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illustrent  le  methode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

MICROCOPY   RiSOlUTION   TEST  CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


A    /APPLIED  MAGE: 


1653  EasI   Man   Street 

Roctiester.    New   York         14609       USA 

(716)   «82  -  0300  -  Phone 

(716)    288-  5989  -  Fox 


"IT  CARRIED  NOT  THE  LIVING  BUT  THE  DEAD."     [/>.   I50. 


BISHOP  PATTESON 


THE 


MARTYR    OF    MELANESIA 


BY 


JESSE     PAG  E 


He  what  thou  seemest ;  live  thy  craed  i 
Hold  up  to  earth  the  torch  divine  ; 

Be  what  thcu  prayest  to  be  made. 
Lei  the  (treat  Master's  steps  be  thine. 

HoRATIUS  Uunar. 


FOURTH     EDITION.  NINKTrSNTH     THOOtANO. 


FLEMING    H.    REVELL    COMPANY, 

NEW    YORK  CHICAGO  TORONTO 

Publishers  of  Evangelical  Literature. 


»  1,-K 


/.ASTER  UNtVER<5'TY  UBRARY 


PREFACE. 


THE  lives  of  some  men  are  an  atmosphere  into 
which  we  cannot  enter  without  feeling  braced 
and  invigorated  for  the  battle  of  life.  This  tonic 
influence  is  not  to  be  attributed  to  their  intellectual 
gifts,  still  less  to  the  wealth  of  their  earthly  honour  and 
station;  it  is  rather  in  the  fact  that  we  recognise  in 
them  the  marks  of  a  real  manhood,  the  unswerving 
allegiance  to  the  right,  the  singleness  of  aim  in  the 
path  of  duty,  the  human  tenderness  which  links  their 
hearts  with  ours,  the  peace  which  is  born  of  faith,  the 
courage  which  grows  in  quietness,  the  Christ-power 
transfiguring  every  detail  of  their  life  among  us. 


PREFACE. 


Such  was  John  Coleridge  Pattcson.  In  tracing  the 
steps  of  his  years,  one  is  constantly  reminded  that  they 
tend  upward;  from  a  starting-point  of  no  special 
advantage  or  even  promise,  it  is  the  gradual  and  noble 
development  of  one  of  the  purest  and  most  heroic 
characters  of  our  time.  There  is  attraction  in  his 
thorough  manliness,  not  merely  in  its  embodiment  of 
physical  pluck  and  nerve,  but  in  that  large-hearted 
truthfulness  which  grasps  your  hand  and  compels  you 
utterly  to  believe  in  him.  He  lifts  you  from  a  pitiful 
conventional  level,  with  its  compromises  and  un- 
realities, and  bids  you  share  with  him  that  inspiring 
mountain  air  of  God's  grace  and  favour. 

Patteson  shows  you  that  after  all  Christianity  is  a 
real  vitalising  and  saving  power  in  man.  This  is 
powerfully  evidenced  in  the  history  of  his  own  character, 
in  which  the  natural  preferences  and  tempting  ambitions 
of  a  cultured  and  home-loving  mind  were  entirely  lost 
in  the  one  absorbing  and  divine  aim,  which  can  best 
be  expressed  in  the  words  of  the  great  missionary 
Apostle,  "  For  me  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die  is  gain." 
The  praise  of  men  counted  as  nothing  with  him ;  like 
every  true  worker  he  knew  well  enough  what  need 
there  was  for  humility,  and  how  vast  and  pressing 
were  the  duties  yet  to  do.  One  is  convinced  irresistibly 
that  this  man  through  all  held  up  because  he  wa? 
divinely  upborne.  His  character  is  one  of  those  which 
must  compel  the  admiration  of  the  unbeliever,  a  living 
epistle  not  to  be  gainsaid  or  disputed  even  by  the 
enemies  of  the  Lord  whom  he  served.  To  the  mere 
professional  Christians  it  must  be  a  revelation,  almost 
startling,  of  a  power  of  v/hich  they  have  absolutely  no 


PREFACE.  J 

experience.     To  those  who  have   "the  secret  of  the 
Lord,"  it  is  a  precious  testimony,   the  setting  of  a 
martyr  hand  to  that  seal  which  affirms  that  God  is  true. 
The  poor  heathen  for  whose  sake  he  gave  up  all,  not 
sparing  life  itself,  were  perhaps  the  most  unpromising 
material  to  be  found  in  the  wide  worid  for  conversion 
into  citizens  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.     What  hope 
was  there   for  a  horde  of  cannibals,  red-handed  from 
the  murder  of  white  men  who  had  ventured  upon  their 
coral  strand?    But  "the  things   that  are  impossible 
with  men,  are  possible  with  God,"  and  the  faith  of 
Patteson  was  being  constantly  strengthened  by  witness- 
ing the  spiritual  beaut>  and  fidelity  of  those  who  in 
due  time  sat  at  the  feet  of  Christ  clothed  and  in  their 
right  mind.     "  Light  is  breaking  over  Melanesia,"  were 
his  words  of  hope  and   thankfulness.     It  would  be 
indeed  difficult  to  question  either  the  call  to  missionary 
enterprise  or  its  record  of  grand  victories  in  face  of 
such  a  man  and  such  a  work. 

The  world  wants  more  of  such  men.  though  possibly 
there  are  many  unrecognised  amongst  us,  the  worship 
of  whose  grand  service,  the  sacrifice  of  whose  lives,  is 
a  perpetual  martyrdom,  known  only  to  God. 

In  these  pages  I  have  st?iven  to  show  Patteson  as 
he  was,  in  heart  and  mind,  life  and  death  ;  how  imper- 
fectly this  aim  has  been  achieved,  and  how  blurred  at 
best  are  the  outlines  of  the  portraiture,  the  writer 
knows  only  too  well.  In  again  and  again  going  over 
the  records  of  this  life  worth  living,  the  subject  has 
been  a  growing  inspiration  to  me,  and  I  shall  be  thank- 
ful if  in  even  a  smaller  measure  that  inspiration  may  be 
shared  by  my  readers. 


PREFACE. 


I  tlcsirr  gratefully  to  acknnwltJge  the  kindness  of 
Miss  Yonpc  in  giving  me  permission  to  make  the 
extracts  from  the  letters  and  journals  of  Patteson  which 
appear  in  this  volume.  The  perusal  of  that  admirable 
biography  of  her  illustrious  kinsman,  with  which  she 
has  enriched  our  literature,  has  been  a  source  of  un- 
speakable pleasure  and  profit  to  mc. 

My  thanks  also  are  due  to  my  friend  Mr.  H.  B. 
Wilkins  for  the  loan  of  several  valuable  books  of 
reference,  and  to  Mr.  Herbert  Williams,  B.A.,  for 
sketches  and  interesting  particulars  of  Patteson's 
Devonshire  memorials. 

I  should  like  also  to  add  that  from  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  and  the  London  Missionary 
Society,  I  have  received  courteous  attention. 

Jesse  Page. 


I 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  BOY  AT  HOME  AND  AT  SCHOOL 

CHAPTER   II. 
THE  STUDENT  AT  OXFORD   AND  ABROAD 

CHAPTER   III. 
FROM   DEVONSHIRE  TO   MELANESIA         . 

CHAPTER  IV. 
ST.   JOHN'S   COLLEGE   AND  THE   FIRST  CRUISE 

CHAPTER  V. 
HOW  THE   HEATHEN   HEART  WAS   WON 


PAOI 
II 


29 


46 


59 


7» 


to 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
IN   THE   MIDST  OF   HIS   BOYS 

CHAPTER  VII. 
THE   BISHOP  OF   MELANESIA 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE   FATHERLESS   HEART       . 

CHAPTER  IX. 
FIRST  FRUITS   IN    EARTH  AND   HEAVEN 

CHAPTER  X. 
THE  MARTYRDOM  AND  AFTER    • 


PACE 

8S 


99 


"3 


129 


144 


•ip 
^1 


BISHOP    PATTESON 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE   BOY   AT   HOME   AND   AT   SCHOOL. 

"  ^?*i^°"''  •^''••^hood  rests  the  glistening  cloud 
ij  1 J '^  ^^^^*^'  benison,  the  unseen  Hand 
Holds  up  our  steppings  in  that  way  ol  years 
Which  leads  through  life  to  the  eternal  land." 

IT  is    Sunday    afternoon,    the    thirty-first    day    of 
October,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred   and   forty-one,    and    the   slanting 
rays  of  the  autumn  sunset  are  falling  through  the 
Windows  of  the  parish  church  of  New  Windsor 

Within  the  sacred  building  every  seat  is  occupied 
with  a  deeply  attentive  congregation,  the  crowd  over- 
now.ng  into  the  aisles.  In  the  pulpit  is  one  whose 
name  has  already  become  a  household  word  among 
the  English  people,  as  a  brave  and  successful  standard- 
bearer  of  the  Cross  of  Christ  in  distant  lands.  It  is 
none  other  than  George  Augustus  Sehvyn,  the  newl^- 


la 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


consecrated  Bishop  of  New  Zealand,  and  he  is  there 
to  plead  the  claims  of  the  heathen  on  the  other  side 
of  the  world.     The  text  he  has  chosen  has  the  true 

trumpet-tone  of  the 
missionary  in  every 
word  of  it:  "Thine 
heart  shall  be  en- 
larged because  thr: 
abundance  of  the 
sea  shall  be  con- 
verted unto  thee, 
the  forces  also  of 
the  Gentiles  shall 
come  unto  thee." 

Amongst  those 
standing  in  one  of 
the  aisles  is  a  little 
Eton  boy,  in  his 
spotless  white  collar 
and  short  jacket, 
looking  steadfastly 
into  the  face  of 
the  preacher.  A 
fair-haired  lad  and 
open  browed,  for 
him  there  is  no 
seat-room  in  the 
vast  congregation, 
yet  in  those  up- 
turned blue  eyes 
there  is  a  look 
of  rapt  attention, 
which  gives  evi- 
dence that  there  is 
no  heart  in  all  the 
throng  which  responds  more  fervently  to  the  appeal. 
While  the  Bishop  talks  of  sufferings  undergone  for 
Christ's  sake,  of  victories  achieved  for  the  Cross 
among  the    benighted   islanders,   of  the   earnest   cry 


THE  GATEWAY,    ETON    COLLLUE. 


THE  BOY  AT  HOME  AND  AT  SCHOOL.      13 

for  helpers  in  that  distant  harvest-field,  which  sounds 
across  the  sea,  tears  run  down  the  cheeks  of  the 
boy,  for  he  is  stirred  to  the  very  depths  of  his  young 
nature.  The  service  is  presently  concluded,  and 
to  the  solemn  strains  of  the  organ  the  congregation 
begins  to  disperse,  and  no  one  notices  the  little  school- 
boy who  with  a  beating  heart,  hurries  away.  He  is 
lull  of  what  he  has  heard,  and  wants  to  tell  somebody 
about  It.  So  he  writes  a  letter  home,  and  in  it  occur 
these  words, — 

"It  was  beautiful  when  he  talked  of  his  going  out 
to  found  a  church  and  then  to  die  neglected  and  for- 
gotten. All  the  people  burst  out  crying,  he  was  so 
very  much  beloved  by  his  parishioners.  He  spoke  of 
his  perils  and  putting  his  trust  in  God,  and  then,  when 
he  had  finished,  I  think  I  never  heard  anything  like 
the  sensation,  a  kind  of  feeling  that,  if  it  had  not  been 
on  so  sacred  a  spot,  all  would  have  exclaimed,  'God 
bless  him  ? '" 
That  boy  was  little  Patteson. 

He  who  sows  the  seed  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
can  see  nothing  of  the  heart-ground  upon  which  it 
talis ;  and  the  good  Bishop,  pouring  forth  his  soul  that 
afternoon,  little  guessed  that,  of  all  in  that  impressed 
and  attentive  audience,  his  truest  listener,  and  most 
Iruit-bearing  in  after-life,  would  prove  to  be  that  little 
Lton  boy  standing  there  in  the  aisle.  Little  would 
he  imagine  that  the  brave  young  face  with  its  wistful 
gaze  would,  in  the  distant  after-time,  confront  the 
dangers  of  v^hich  he  had  been  speaking  with  a  fear- 
lessness and  devotion  equal  to  his  own.  There  was 
no  place  it  seemed  for  the  lad  in  the  crowd,  and  yet 
unto  him,  as  truly  as  to  St.  Paul,  came  the  word  ot 
the  Lord  that  day,  calling  his  young  heart  to  a  labour 
ot  devout  self-sacrifice  and  to  a  martyr's  crown. 

In  tracing  the  footsteps  of  John  Coleridge  Patteson 
we  have  started  at  this  the  most  important  turning- 
point  of  his  young  life,  an  impression  which,  stamped 
upon  his  young  and  plastic  character,  deepened  day 


>4 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


by  day  as  the  years  rolled  on.  But  to  rightly  under- 
stand the  inner  working  of  these  high  purposes  in  the 
mind  of  the  boy  we  must  go  back  still  further  to  his 
earliest  years. 

The  saying  may  be  trite  in  its  happy  frequency, 
but  loses  nothing  in  its  significance,  when  we  say  that 
Patteson  owed  much,  how  much  no  words  can  fully 
gauge,  to  the  advantage  of  a  godly  parentage  and 
careful  training.  Better  than  ten  thousand  gifts  of 
gold,  of  higher  price  than  the  rubies  of  intellectual 
lustre,  sweeter  than  the  scented  air  of  the  highest  social 
position,  Patteson  had  always  in  life  the  retrospect  of 
a  bright,  pure-hearted  Christian  home.  His  childhood 
unfolded  its  petals  under  the  influence  of  a  loving 
sympathy,  while  it  was  directed  and  trained  by  that 
priceless  discipline  which  best  prepares  for  the  buffet- 
ing gusts  of  life's  storms. 

His  father,  Mr.  Justice  Patteson,  was  a  lawyer  of 
no  mean  repute  in  his  day,  at  a  time,  too,  when  the 
English  bench  was  illustrious  with  many  legal 
authorities  of  high  degree.  He  was  raised  to  the  posi- 
tion of  judge  in  the  year  1830,  and  wherever  he 
travelled  on  circuit  he  gained  respect  and  made  many 
friends.  A  man  of  sterling  integrity,  he  was  popular 
without  swerving  from  the  line  of  right  to  gain  the 
good  opinion  of  unworthy  men.  In  the  after-life  of 
his  son  we  shall  discern,  like  veins  of  precious  ore, 
these  same  solid  qualities  exhibited. 

To  the  very  end  of  his  days  his  boy  loved  him  with 
unfailing  loyalty,  and  was  always  ready  to  acknowledge, 
with  heartfelt  thankfulness,  how  much  of  what  was 
Sest  in  him  was  due  to  that  honoured  parent  whose 

me  he  bore.  From  him  he  inherited  that  sturdy 
oackbone  of  principle,  that  straightforward,  brave 
manhood  which,  as  we  shall  see,  stood  him  in  good 
stead  in  the  history  of  his  school-life  and  the  heroism 
of  his  later  years.  And  yet,  to  complete  the  character 
of  Patteson,  it  needed  another  influence,  and  that  was 
supplied  by  his  mother's  gentle  love.     It  is  so  true  to 


THE  BOY  AT  HOME  AND  AT  SCHOOL.      15 

human  nature  that  it  will  cause  no  surprise  to  add 
that  the  boy  partook  largely  of  his  mother's  mind, 
was  like  her,  and  between  the  two  were  those  infinitely 
strong  links  of  mutual  love  and  confidence  which  many 
waters  cannot  quench  nor  fire  consume. 

She  came  of  a  famous  ancestry,  her  maiden  name 
vyas  Frances  Duke  Coleridge,  and  her  line  was  dis- 
tinguished by  the  poet  and  philosopher,  Samuel  Taylor 
Coleridge     To  the  future  Bishop  she  gave  her  family 
name,  and  amongst   those  who  knew  him   best,  not 
only  as  a  boy  but  afterwards  when  he  had  reached 
mans  estate,  he  was   known  as  "  Coley "     She  too 
was  proud  of  her  son,  and  saw  in  him  the  promise  of 
a  future  of  honour  and  usefulness,  though  it  was  not 
granted  to  her  tc  see  the  glowing  sunset  of  his  noble 
da>.      A  gentle,  wise  and  charming  lady  she   must 
have  been,  one  who  with  the  cares  of  a  large  family 
to  bear  was  not  unskilful   in   handling  the   reins  of 
authority     In  the  truest  sense  she  swayed  her  house- 
hold with  the  sceptre  of  love.     There  was  in  Lady 
Patteson  a  pnnciple  of  firm  government,  and  while  she 
insisted  upon  her  word  being  law  with  her  children 
they  never  loved  her  less  because  of  this.     In  Coley's 
case  one  scarcely  cares  to  predict  what  would  have 
become  of  him  had  he  been  the  victim  of  the  "spoiling" 
process,  for  he  had  his  moods  of  dogged  obstinacy  and 
sometimes  even  passionate  outbursts.      Besides  these 
faihngs,  his  boyish  inclination  was  to  avoid  application 
to    his    studies;    this,   what   he  called   his   "natural 
indolence,     was   indeed   his  dragon   to  be  fought  in 
the   name   of  the    Lord   throughout    his   manhood's 
years.      but,   like  most  passionate  natures,  he  -vas 
equally  quick  and  sincere  in  his  penitence.     "  D      ju 
think  God  can  forgive  me?"  was  his  earnest  in     .ry 
when,   after    some    violent    ebullition    of  temper'   he 
begged  pardon  at  his  mother's  knee.     This  sense  of 
guiltiness  marked  his  whole  career,  and  in  later  years 
developed  into  a  severe  introspection.     He  was  only 
SIX  years  old  when  he  told   his  mother  that  of  ail 


i6 


BISHOP  FATTESON. 


things  he  would  like  to  be  a  clergyman  ;  and  when 
pressed  for  his  reasons,  said  "he  longed  to  say  the 
Absolution,  because  it  would  make  people  so  happy." 
Judging  others  by  himself,  he  conceived  of  no  higher 
privilege  than  that  of  being  the  means  of  directing  poor 
laden  consciences  to  the  source  of  forgiveness  and 
peace.  This  idea  of  his  greatly  pleased  his  mother,  who 
had  doubtless  early  given  him  to  God,  and  she  greatly 
encouraged  Coley  in  the  purpose  which  as  a  child  he 
had  formed  for  his  future  life.  Her  ambition  for  her 
son  coincided  with  his  own ;  she  had  never  desired  for 
him  a  high  position  in  the  world,  or  the  acquisition  of 
riches,  but  that  Coley,  her  eldest  born,  "  should  be  a 
good  servant  at  God's  altar  was  to  her  above  price." 

In  the  times  cf  our  childhood  few  events  are  so 
conspicuous  as  the  birthday,  the  red-letter  days 
which  not  only  bring  the  welcome  presents  but  mark 
that  onward  progress  in  the  accumulation  of  years 
which  is  such  a  gratification  then.  Thus  it  was  with 
the  boy  Patteson  when,  on  his  fifth  birthday,  he 
received  as  a  present  from  his  father  a  Bible.  Such 
a  gift,  intrinsically  invaluable,  became  all  through 
his  life  the  object  of  his  jealous  care.  He  had  already 
become  an  eager  reader  of  books,  and  this  precious 
XMolume  was  not,  in  his  case  at  least,  located  to  the 
bottom  of  his  box,  or  promoted  to  the  region  of  orna- 
mental and  unstudied  books  on  an  upper  shelf.  This 
fact  deserves  an  emphasis;  Coley  read  his  Bible  and 
loved  it,  and  therein  lay  his  strength  as  time  went  on. 
We  are  told  by  his  biographer  that  in  those  early 
days  he  was  mystified  occasionally  by  Scriptural 
problems,  such  as  what  became  of  all  the  fish  during 
the  flood,  and  on  one  occasion  when  there  were  loud 
calls  for  him  in  the  nursery,  he  asked  for  a  few 
minutes  more,  just  to  "  finish  the  binding  of  Satan  for 
a  thousand  years." 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  this  little  volume  of 
the  sacred  Word  on  which  his  childish  eyes  glistened 
at  five  years  old,  was  used  again,  after  the  lapse  of 


I 


THE  BOY  AT  HOME  AND  AT  SCHOOL,      .7 

tuenty-scven  years,  uhcn  lie  was  solemnly  consecrated 
to  the  office  and  work  of  a  Bishop  in  Christ's  Church 

Another   characteristic  of  Patteson's  youthful   days 
deinands  our  special  attention.      That  was  his  early 
and  habitual  reverence  for  sacred  things.     A  childhood 
without  reverence  is  a  temple  without  a  shrine.     In 
Coleys  case  this  precious  and   hallowing  sense  was 
chielly  due  to  a  very  distinct  realisation  of  the  pres- 
ence of  God.     While  having  plenty  of  animal  spirits 
buoyant-hearted  as  any  boy  could  be,  he  could  not 
be  careless,  much  less  flippant,  during   times  of  re- 
ligious worship.     When  the  Judge  gathered  his  family 
round  him  to  read  the  morning  and  evening  prayers 
his  eldest  son  was  always  a  quiet  and  interested  listener 
as  the  Psalms  and  lessons  for  the  day  were  reverently 
uttered.  •' 

Here  ap-'i  we  have  a  fragment  of  those  days  pre- 
served f  us  to  discern  through  the  misty  avenue  of 
the  years  the  devout  boy:  "His  old  nurse  (still  his 
sister's  valued  servant)  remembers  the  little  seven-year- 
o  d  boy,-  after  saying  his  own  prayers  at  her  knee 
standing  opposite  to  his  little  brother,  admonishing 
him  to  attention  with  'think.  Jemmy,  think.'  In  fact 
devotion  seems  to  have  been  natural  to  him  "  ' 

When  Coley  had  reached  his  eighth  year  he  -vas 
sent  to  the  old  Foundation  School  at  Ottery  St.  Mary 
a   place  which  will  be   for  ever  associated   with  his 
name.     It  was  doubtless  a  great  day  to  him,  as  it  is 
to  every  boy,  when  the  first  going  away  from  home 
takes   place,  and   the  eyes,  still  wet  with   the  tears 
of  a  parting  embrace,  gleam  with  expectation  of  new 
scenes.      The  lovely   scenery  of    Devonshire  would 
charm  him,  and  the  old  church  of  St.  Mary,  standing 
on  a  rise  in  the  valley,  would  engross  his  attention 
His  was  no^  the  hard  lot  of  being  amongst  strangers, 
for  he  went  to  hve  with  his  uncle,  the  Rev.  Francis 
George  Coleridge,   and   his    grandparents    had    their 
ancestral  home  at  Heath's  Court,  not  far  away.    Still 
boylike,  he  grew  home-sick,  and  begins,  in  telling  out 


i8 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


his  heart  to  his  mother,  that  series  of  delightful  and 
interesting  letters  which  flowed  freely  from  his  heart 
and  pen  all  through  his  mortal  life.  But  in  the  com- 
panionship of  other  boys,  Coley  soon  found  a  new 
pleasure,  and  settled  down  with  a  fair  amount  of 
industry  to  his  studies  and  a  much  greater  modicum 
of  enthusiasm  to  his  play.  For,  let  it  be  said,  Coley 
was  "a  regular  boy."  He  seems  to  have  been  singularly 
free  from  that  priggishness  which  makes  youngsters 
so  extremely  offensive,  thinly  glozing  over  their  ignor- 
ance or  insincerity.  He  went  in  for  robust  games,  and 
was  chiefly  stimulated  to  special  activity  in  his  book- 
work  by  the  prospect  of  cricket  or  football  at  the  end 
of  it.  Full  of  pluck,  he  was  always  on  the  spot  in 
the  field  where  the  greatest  danger  lay,  and  should  he 
at  any  time  get  a  knock  or  suffer  a  blow,  he  silently 
and  bravely  stood  it  like  a  man.  As  an  instance  of 
this  we  are  told  that  he  bore  for  three  weeks  with 
patient  silence  a  broken  collar-bone,  until  it  was 
revealed  by  his  mother's  embrace  on  his  return  home, 
and  when  chided  for  not  complaining  before  he  simply 
said  "  he  did  not  like  to  make  a  fuss."  Prudence  will 
shake  her  head  at  this,  no  doubt,  and  not  without 
cause ;  it  is  only  quoted  here  as  an  example  of  the 
nerve  of  the  boy.  He  not  only  stood  up  for  himself, 
but  alr.o  acted  the  part  of  big  brother  to  his  younger 
one,  who  was  with  him  at  school. 

It  is  a  happy  feature  of  this  period  of  his  life  that 
while  at  Ottery  his  education  was  not  merely  book- 
learning.  His  uncle  watched  the  lad  with  a  judicious 
and  observant  eye,  and  spared  no  pains  in  seconding 
the  admirable  training  which  he  had  received  in  the 
home  from  which  he  had  come.  He  made  up  his 
mind  that  Coley  should  be  impressed  with  the  value 
of  truthfulness  in  every  phase  of  action,  and  any 
divergence  from  this  in  the  boy  met  with  strict  disci- 
pline and  correction.  Once,  when  something  had 
occarrcd  of  this  character,  he  gave  Coley  a  serious 
talk,  but  confesses  that  he  could  hardly  restrain  his 


t    * 

i 


ao 


BISHOP  PATTESOX. 


smiles  when  "he  began  to  reduce  by  calculation  the 
exact  number  of  fibs  he  had  told.  He  did  not  think 
it  was  more  than  two  or  three  at  the  utmost,  and  when 
I  brought  him  to  book  I  had  much  to  do  to  prevent 
the  feeling  that  the  sin  consisted  in  telling  many  lies." 
But  in  due  time  the  boy  broke  fairly  down,  made  his 
unequivocal  confession,  and  promised  better  things 
afterwards.  Such  a  wise  and  helpful  counsellor  was 
of  inestimable  value  to  the  boy,  who  very  soon  was  to 
leave  the  pretty  sleepy  little  town,  with  its  old  church, 
its  quaint,  irregular  streets  and  leafy  hills,  for  that 
school  which  has  been  associated  with  the  early 
histories  of  so  many  of  our  greatest  men.  To  be  an 
Eton  boy  was  doubtless  one  of  the  cherished  ambitions 
of  Coley's  life,  and  he  had  not  been  long  at  the  school 
before  he  paid  that  visit  to  the  parish  church  which 
we  have  already  described. 

Another  voice,  however,  besides  that  of  Bishop 
Selwyn,  powerfully  influenced  the  heart  of  the  boy 
in  the  direction  of  Christian  Missions.  It  was  that  of 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Wilberforce,  then  Archdeacon  of 
Surrey,  afterwards  to  take  his  place  as  one  of  the 
ablest  prelates  of  the  Church.  He  also  had  lent  his 
convincing  eloquence  to  the  cause,  and  young  Coley 
had  the  advantage  of  listening  to  his  appeal  on  the 
same  day  as  the  Bishop  of  New  Zealand  preached. 
Dr.  Wilberforce's  text  is  still  preserved :  "  Neither 
pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also  which  shall 
believe  on  Me  through  their  word ;  that  they  all  may 
be  one;  as  Thou,  Father,  art  in  Me,  and  I  in  Thee, 
that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us:  that  the  world 
may  believe  that  '.'"hou  hast  sent  Me."  These  words, 
and  their  exposition  which  followed,  struck  the  key- 
note of  that  far-reaching,  all-loving  charity  which 
characterised  the  mind  of  Patteson  as  he  grew  older. 
There  was  no  narrow  exclusiveness  in  him ;  a  loyal 
son  of  the  Church  of  England,  he  never  failed, 
however,  to  recognise  as  brethren  in  Christ  those  who, 
outside  her  pale,  were   nevertheless   members  of  His 


THE  BOY  AT  HOME  AND  AT  SCHOOL,      ii 


body  and  partakers  of  the  benefit  of  His  grace  and 
atonement. 

The   preacher  on    this  occasion   drove   home   into 
the  hearts  of  his  hearers  the  obh'gations  of  that  con- 
secration  to  God   and   His  work  which  is   the  claim 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures.     Some  might  give  themselves, 
others  nnght  make  costly  and  acceptable  sacrifices  to 
enable  them  to  carry  on  the  work  among  the  heathen. 
"As  we  are  giving  up  of  our  best,"  said  he,  "  as  our 
Church  is  giving  up  of  her  best  in  sending  forth  from 
her  own  bosom  those  cherished  and  chosen  sons,  so  let 
there   go  forth  from   every  one  of   us  a   consenting 
offering,   let   us  give  this  day  largely  in  the  spirit  of 
self-sacrifice  as  Cliristian   men   to   Christ   our  Lord, 
and   He  will   graciously  accept   the  offering  that  we 
make."     So  in  response  many  doubtless  that  Hay  cast 
in   their  gold,   others   with   sn;nller   gifts   added    the 
benediction   of  their   prayers,  but  the  little  Eton  lad 
gave   himself,  an  offering  with  w '     '    the  God  of  all 
grace  was  well  pleased. 

Not  very  long  after  this  Bishop  Su*vyn  left  England, 
to  resume  the  arduous  and  cherished  work  of  his 
distant  diocese,  and  called  on  the  Pattesons  to  say 
good-bye.  It  was  then  that  he  significantly  spoke  to 
Lady  Patteson  about  her  son,  asking  the  startling 
question,  "  Lady  Patteson,  will  you  give  me  Coley  ?  " 
As  we  know,  it  was  the  inmost  wish  of  that  mother's 
heart  that  her  boy  should  one  day  be  a  clergyman, 
but  this  appeal  meant  something  far  more— it  implied 
that  separation,  peihaps  for  life,  which  is  hardest  of 
all  trials.  But  she  does  not  appear  to  have  flinched 
from  the  sacrifice,  for  it  is  on  record  that  when  the 
boy  came  to  her  himself  with  a  like  appeal,  she  readily 
assured  him  that  if  as  he  grew  in  years  the  same  desire 
kept  in  his  heart  she  would  let  him  join  the  Bishop 
in  his  work. 

In  his  letters  home  the  Eton  schoolboy  gives  us  a 
graphic  and  interesting  picture  of  one  "of  the  most 
exciting  events  of  the  time.     This  was  the  marriage 


33 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


festivities  of  her  present  Majesty  the  Queen.  All 
England  was  jubilant,  and  nowhere,  as  might  be 
imagined,  wasi  the  joy  so  intense  as  in  the  Royal 
Boruugh  of  Windsor.  The  Eton  boys  of  course 
entcied  into  the  fun  with  boisterous  loyalty.  Through 
the  telescope  of  these  boyish  letters  we  see  the  sights 
antl  hear  the  shouts  which  are  only  now  to  be  recalled 
by  our  grey-headed  grandparents.  They  wildly  wel- 
comed the  royal  guests — as  Eton  boys  know  how. 

"Then  came  the  Queen's  carriage,  and  I  thought 
college  would  have  tumbled  down  with  the  row.  The 
cheering  was  really  tremendous.  The  whole  five 
hundred  and  fifty  fellows  all  at  once  roared  away,  the 
Queen  and  Consort  nodding  and  smiling.  Then  F. 
and  I  made  a  rush  to  get  up  behind  the  Queen's 
carriage,  but  a  dragoon  with  his  horse  almost  knocked 
us  over.  So  we  ran  by  the  side  as  well  as  we  could, 
but  the  crowd  was  so  immensely  thick  we  could  not 
get  on  as  quickly  as  the  Queen.  You  may  fancy  we 
were  rather  hot  running  the  whole  way  up  to  the 
Castle,  besides  the  exertion  of  knocking  over  the  clods, 
and  knocking  at  doors  as  we  passed,  but  I  was  so 
happy." 

We  can  believe  that  thoroughly.  The  feverish 
dash  of  these  panting  lads,  the  flutter  of  the  countless 
flags,  the  jingle  and  glitter  of  the  dragoons,  how  we 
see  all  this  between  the  lines  of  this  fragment ! 
Whether  the  Queen  or  the  clods  were  most  gratified 
by  these  Eton  attentions,  young  Coley  does  not  inform 
us,  certainly  the  latter  would  appear  to  have  had  equal 
cause  to  remember  the  day. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  excitement,  our  hero  had  a 
narrow  escape  of  losing  his  life.  It  seems  that  the 
crowd  pressed  the  boys  close  to  the  vvhccls  of  the 
royal  carriage,  and  Coley  was  really  getting  underneath, 
when  her  Majesty,  seeing  his  danger,  stretched  forth 
her  hand  and  helped  the  boy  to  his  feet  again.  By 
that  timely  and  gracious  act  she  unconsciousl3'  pre- 
served a  life  which   was    destined    to    add  another 


I 

'  I 


I 


24 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


III 


honoured  name  to  the  bead-roll  of  her  ilhistrious 
reign. 

His  correspondence  at  this  period  teems  with  other 
pleasant  sketches  of  state  visits  to  the  school.  Again, 
after  the  lapse  of  half  a  century,  the  dimly  discerned 
llgures  of  those  who  have  long  passed  into  shadow- 
land,  are  instinct  with  hfe  before  us.  King  Louis 
Philippe  with  his  Queen  came  to  see  them.  The 
French  monarch,  we  are  told,  "  wore  a  white  great-coat, 
and  looked  a  regular  jolly  old  fellow,"  and  seems  to 
have  captivated  Coley's  mind  somewhat.  There  was 
the  usual  cheering,  stamping  of  feet  and  racket,  but 
the  principal  object  of  their  admiration  was  the  old 
Iron  Duke,  and  we  get  a  glimpse  of  the  Peninsular 
hero,  left  behind  by  his  company  inadvertently,  and 
hemmed  in  by  a  crowd  of  boisterous  boys.  He  seems 
to  have  taken  good-naturedly  the  position  of  embar- 
rassment, and  giving  the  lads  a  military  salute  he 
said,  "  Get  on,  boys,  get  on."  Coley  is,  if  anything, 
rather  more  excited  than  ever ;  "  I  was  half  mad,  and 
roared  myself  hoarse  in  about  five  minutes ; "  but  it 
was  an  experience  of  unqualified  delight,  save  that 
he  could  not  manage  to  spell  the  name  of  the  Grand 
Duchess  who  afterwards  leaned  on  the  arm  of  Wel- 
lington. 

Thus  his  boyish  days  flew  by,  the  frolics  of  his 
schoolfellows,  the  excitement  of  the  cricket-field,  the 
making  of  friendships,  and  the  thousand  and  one  little 
delights  which  combine  to  give  radiance  to  life's  early 
springtime;  these  filled  up  the  happy  hours.  And 
then  over  his  sky  spread  suddenly  a  dark  and  chilling 
cloud,  flinging  its  shadow  on  his  heart.  His  was  the 
sorrow  which,  with  few  exceptions,  all  in  turn  must 
know,  the  unforgotten  moment  when  we  inherit  the 
sacred  territory  of  a  mother's  grave.  In  Patteson's 
case,  this  blow  fell  on  his  childish  years,  for  the  time, 
even  with  his  bright  and  buoyant  spirit,  taking  all 
the  colour  out  of  the  landscape  of  his  life.  With 
others  it   breaks  with   undiminished   misery  into  the 


THE  BOY  AT  HOME  AND  AT  SCHOOL.      25 

treasured  love  "  a  niaturer  age  ;  come  when  it  may, 
however,  the  loss  of  his  mother  is  an  irreparable  one 
to  every  true  son. 

This  solemn  event  was  preceded  by  those  intimations 
which  the  human  heart,  passionately  arguing  against 
itself,  will  not  believe  to  presage  the  end. 

For  some  time  Lady  Patteson  had  been  ailing,  and 
the  soft  Devonshire  air  had  only  just  preserved  for  a 
short  time  the  flickering  flame  of  life.  Suddenly  graver 
symptoms  summoned  hastily  the  Judge  to  her  bedside. 
Then  the  boys  were  fetched  from  Eton.  Coley,  who 
was  devotedly  attached  to  his  mother,  was  heart-broken 
at  the  news.  He  writes  a  few  lines  to  his  father,  in 
which  he  says,  "  O  papa,  you  cannot  mean  we  may 
never,  unless  we  come  down  to  Feniton,  see  mamma 
again.  I  cannot  bear  the  thought  of  it.  I  trust  most 
earnestly  that  it  is  not  the  case.  Do  not  hide  any- 
thing from  me;  it  will  make  me  more  wretched 
afterwards.  If  it  shall  (which  I  trust  in  His  infinite 
mercy  it  will  not)  picase  God  to  take  our  dearest 
mamma  to  Himself,  may  He  give  us  grace  to  bear  with 
fortitude  and  resolution  the  dreadful  loss,  and  may  we 
learn  to  live  with  such  holiness  that  we  may  hereafter 
be  united  for  ever  in  Heaven." 

The  needful  grace  was  going  to  be  given  for  the 
inevitable  trial.  The  pathos  of  those  last  hours  touch 
the  heart  with  that  sympathy  of  suffering  which  makes 
the  whole  world  kin.  With  heavy  hearts  the  boys 
entered  that  door  through  which  so  often  they  had 
bounded  to  receive  their  welcome  home.  That  enforced 
silence,  so  painfully  eloquent,  which  sealed  the  steps 
and  voices  of  the  house,  rested  on  them  like  a  spell 
of  woe.  Lady  Patteson  called  her  family  to  her  bed 
to  say  farewell,  caressing  and  blessing  her  sobbin.i^ 
boys.  Then,  throwing  her  arms  round  the  neck  of 
her  husband,  she  thanked  him  for  bringing  them  to 
receive  her  last  embrace,  and  shortly  afterwards  passed 
gently  into  that  sleep  with  which  God  closes  the  eyes 
of  His  beloved. 


26 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


The  letters  which  Coley  writes  from  home  just  after 
the  funeral  aie  affecting  in  their  simplicity,  repeating 
again  and  again  the  sense  of  loss,  and  yet  correcting 
himself  by  recalling  his  mother's  pious  teaching,  that 
we  should  not  t^rieve  for  those  who  die  in  Christ,  for 
they  rest  from  their  labours  and  are  in  everlasting 
peace.  He  tells  with  much  pleasure  how  well  his  fathei 
bears  up  in  the  midst  of  them  all. 

A  few  days  more  and  Colcy,  with  his  brother, 
are  back  again  at  Eton,  back  to  the  old  lessons 
and  the  old  games,  in  which  latter  it  is  mercifully 
piven  to  childhood  so  soon  to  forget  its  misery. 
Time  passes,  and  Patteson,  who  is  now  among  the 
bigger  I'jys,  makes  a  decided  reputation  in  the  cricket- 
field.  His  play  was  always  good,  and  his  proficiency 
raised  him  to  the  coveted  honour  of  the  captaincy  of 
the  college  eleven.  At  the  wicket  none  showed 
more  patient  endurance,  and  in  one  of  the  annual 
struggles  with  Harrow  at  Lord's,  it  was  Patteson  who 
broke  the  powerful  bowling  of  the  other  side,  and,  by 
putting  on  fifty  runs  to  the  score,  gloriously  won  the 
match.  But  his  popularity  brought  in  its  train  some 
temptations ;  the  social  gatherings  of  athletic  fellows* 
were  not  unmingled  with  moral  risk  then  as  now. 
But  our  young  hero  was  not  afraid  to  draw  the  line — 
not  a  wavy  streak,  uncertain  with  many  expediences, 
but  a  straightforward  demarcation  over  which  nobody 
should  force  him  to  pass.  In  those  days  the  moral 
conscience  was  not  so  quick  as  in  these,  and  the 
manners  of  the  time,  as  regards  convivial  meetings, 
were  free  in  their  conduct.  For  instance,  it  had  been 
the  custom  for  a  long  time  at  the  annual  dinner  of  the 
Eton  eleven  for  certain  offensive  songs  to  be  sung, 
but  Coley,  who  in  due  course  occupied  the  chair, 
gave  a  plain  intimation  that  he  would  not  tolerate 
anything  of  the  kind.  One  of  the  boys,  however, 
nolhing  daunted,  essayed  to  sing  some  objectionable 
ditty, 

"  If  that  doesn't  stop,  I  shall  leave  the  room." 


PATTESON,    CAl'TAIN   OF   THE   ETON   ELEVEN. 


28 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


And  this  he  did  ;  following  up  his  action  by  resigning 
his  captaincy,  to  show  that  he  was  in  earnest,  until  his 
comrades  begged  him  with  apologies  to  remain  on  his 
own  honourable  terms. 

"With  this  incident  our  sketch  of  his  school-life  shall 
'close.  His  great  fondness  for  athletics  possibly  ex- 
cused his  close  application  to  study.  Other  boys 
surpassed  him  doubtless  in  the  form,  although  his 
retrospective  complaints  of  himself  made  in  later  life 
must  be  taken  as  from  one  who  was  quick  at  self- 
depreciation.  But  even  this  practice  of  physical  exercises 
was  an  admirable  preparation  for  the  work  to  which 
God  called  him,  for  though  in  Melanesia  there  was  no 
cricket,  there  was  plenty  of  strong  endurance  and  brave 
work  on  land  and  on  sea.  His  fame  as  a  batsman 
preceded  him,  however,  to  the  Antipodes,  aii  when  at 
Melbourne,  one  of  the  leading  professional  players, 
meeting  him  in  the  street,  begged  the  favour  of  receiv- 
ing a  few  balls  from  him  "  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing," to  prevent  giving  offence  to  his  Bishop. 

The  chapter  of  our  school-life  is  a  time  to  be  re- 
membered by  all  of  us,  and  it  is  truly  but  a  picture 
and  foreshadowing  of  the  greater  school  of  experience 
which  awaits  us  in  after  life.  Here  we  part  with 
Coley,  the  Eton  boy,  brave,  generous,  firm,  his  heart 
overflowing  with  the  innocent  gaiety  of  youth,  and  yet 
hallowed  with  the  first  toll  of  that  bell  of  sorrow, 
which  vibrates  amid  the  undying  memories  of  every 
human  soul. 


^c 


i^n 


/:4f^9 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE   STUDENT   AT   OXFORD    AND   ABROAD. 


"  \Vhat  seekest  thou,  my  soul  ? 
To  follow  truth  and  falter  never, 
God  leading  me,  and  yearning  ever 
To  do  the  right  vvitii  pure  endeavour ; 

His  glory  is  my  goal. 

"  But  what  if  clouds  arise  ? 

Within  their  shadow  shall  I  sing, 
Trusting  in  my  eternal  King, 
Faith  cleaves  the  veil  with  joyful  wing, 
Into  the  sunshine  flics." 

WHEN  Pattcson,  in  the  Michaelmas  term  of 
1845,  entered  Balliol  College,  he  came  at  once 
into  contact  with  that  remarkable  quickening 
of  religious  thought  which  will  mark  an  epoch 
in  the  history  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  with- 
drawal of  John  Henry  Newman  from  her  pale  had 
transferred  at  once  the  greatest  mind  and  one  of  the 
noblest  natures  from  the  University  to  the  Church  of 
Rome.  For  3ears  the  shock  of  that  secession  was 
felt  among  the  students,  and  the  conflicts  of  opinion 


30 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


» 


upon  doctrinal  points  waged  hotly  still.  Something 
higher  and  more  precious  than  controversial  feud 
remained,  in  a  new  impulse  to  consecration  and 
absolute  allegiance  to  the  Divine  purpose,  a  deepen- 
ing of  heartlife— and  a  consequent  fruitage  of  truer 
experience  and  better  work  was  evidenced  every- 
where. "^ 

Although    in    his    correspondence    of  after    years, 
Patteson  discussed  these  questions  which  so  perturbed 

the    mind    of  the 
Church,  it  is  a  little 
disappointing    not 
to  find  any  letters 
which  pourtray  dis- 
tinctly and   speci- 
fically his  impres- 
sions  on  entering 
Oxford     in     these 
days.     That  it  did 
earnestly    impress 
him,     fresh     from 
Eton  in  the  bright 
springing  forth   of 
his    young    man- 
hood, there  can  be 
no  room  for  doubt. 
Of     another     fact 
there  is  equal  cer- 
tainty, that  he,  who 


BALLIOL  COLLEGE,    OXFORD. 


in  subsequent  times  had  to  lead  the  van  of 'mis- 
sionary work  among  the  heathen,  was  not  hurt  by 
the  disturbing  elements,  the  swaying  to  and  fro  to 
violent  extremes,  arising  out  of  the  Tractarian  move- 
ment. Rather  was  he  stimulated  by  all  these  to  self- 
examination  and  a  clearer  assurance  of  duty.  He 
made  friends  out  of  the  worthy  society  of  earnest 
minds;  some  who  survived  him  have  recorded  of 
Patteson  affectionate  and  interesting  memories.  Of 
these,  perhaps  the  most  complete  is  the  testimony  of 


THE  STUDENT  AT  OXFORD  AND  ABROAD.  31 

Professor  Shairp  on  his  fellow-undergraduate,  of  wliich 
an  extract  must  suffice  here, — 

"  Patteson  as  he  was  at  Oxford,  comes  back  to  me  as 
the  representative  of  the  very  best  kind  of  Etonian, 
with   much  good  that  he   had   got   from   Eton,   with 
something  better,  not  to  be  got  at  Eton  or  any  other 
school.      He  had   those   pleasant   manners  and   that 
perfect  ease  in  dealing  with  men  and  with  the  world 
vyhich  are  the  inheritance  of  Eton,  without  the  least 
tincture  of  worldliness.      I  remember  well   the  look 
he   then   had,   his   countenance,   massive  for  one   so 
young,  with  good  sense  and  good  feeling,  in  fact,  full 
of  character.     For  it  was  character  more  than  special 
ability  which  marked  him  out  from  others,  and  made 
him  wherever  he  was,  whether  in  cricket,  in  which  he 
excelled,  or  in  graver  things,  a  centre  round   which 
others  gathered.     The  impression  he  left  on  me  was 
of  quiet,  gentle  strength,  and   entire  purity,  a   heart 
that  loved  all  things  true,  and  honest,  and  pure,  and 
that  would   always   be   found   on   the   side  of  these. 
We  did  not  know,  probably  he  did   not  know  him- 
self, the  fire  of  devotion  that  lay  within  him,  but  that 
was  soon  to  kindle  and  make  him  what  he  afterwards 
became." 

When  Patteson  commenced  his  studies  at  the  Uni- 
versity, he  found  that  real  hard  work  was  before  him, 
and  with  greater  diligence  and  application  he  laid  him- 
self out  to  achieve  success.  For  him,  however,  the 
laurels  were  not  in  store,  and  others,  who  were  not 
perchance  even  his  intellectual  superiors,  attained 
collegiate  distinction  before  him.  He  worked  hard  for 
the  Balliol  scholarship,  and  twice  failed,  although  the 
second  time  he  was  bracketed  fourth  with  Mr.  Hornby, 
who  rose  afterwards  to  become  head  master  of  his  old 
school.  Let  it  not  be  thought  for  one  moment  that 
this  lack  of  success  was  in  any  way  due  to  want  of 
effort  He  tells  his  sister  Fanny,  ii.  a  letter  home 
how,  for  the  sake  of  his  studies,  he  has  refused  J 
pressing  oiler  to  pla^;  in  the  University  cricket  eleven 


3» 


BISHOP  PA  TTESOX. 


uhich  would  have  been  at  once  an  honour  and  deligh', 
to  such  an  enthusiastic  athlete  as  he. 

His  work  during  the  long  vacation  began  to  try 
him  greatly,  his  constant  reading  afTected  the  use  of 
his  eyes,  and  generally  he  sank  more  and  more 
below  par.  He  grew  intensely  introspective,  and 
shrank  from  the  gaieties  of  the  University,  becoming 
reserved,  and  avoiding  the  cheerful  society  in  which 
it  had  been  his  wont  to  mingle.  This  may  have 
been  to  a  considerable  extent  due  to  over-work,  and 
a  slightly  morbid  condition,  but  it  is  quite  possible 
that  I'atteson's  avoidance  of  the  old  merry-makings 
arose  from  a  more  intelligent  appreciation  of  their 
value  compared  with  other  things.  In  Patteson  there 
was  not  a  particle  of  the  ascetic,  but  still  as  a  rigid 
self- discipline  he  was  constantly  examining  his  line  of 
conduct. 

After  three  years,  having  secured  a  second  class  in 
Litcvcc  hitiiiaiiiorcs,  he  set  out  for  a  much-needed 
holiday  on  the  Continent.  He  was  a  capital  linguist, 
indeed  he  had,  in  a  providential  degree,  "  the  gift  of 
tongues,"  and  he  soon  found  his  French  and  German 
of  practical  use  when  he  had  left  for  a  time  the 
English  shores.  Of  his  travels  in  other  lands  his 
letters  supply  a  host  of  delightful  descriptions.  In 
those  days  it  was  not  the  custom  to  whisk  a  party  of 
tourists  at  breathless  haste  through  continental  cities, 
and  Patteson,  with  his  brother,  and  friend  Mr.  Hornbj', 
were  able  to  take  their  time,  and  fully  enjoy  and  take 
in  the  wonders  which  on  every  hand  met  their  eye. 
He  breathed  the  mountain  air  of  the  Tyrol  heights, 
and  plunged  into  the  Egyptian  darkness  of  the  Salzburg 
mines  ;  everywhere  his  mind,  full  of  inquiry,  and  capable 
of  enjoying  to  the  utmost  the  beauties  of  nature,  revelled 
in  the  marvels  of  travel.  After  visiting  Vienna  he 
passed  into  Italy,  and  spent  many  never-to-'  e-forgotten 
days  in  the  picture-galleries  of  her  cities.  Of  Florence 
he  speaks  in  glowing  terms,  and  tells  us  that  in  the 
presence  of  those  marvellous  masterpieces  of  art,  he 


TJIE  STUDENT  AT  OXFORD  AND  ABROAD,   i^ 

cnnnot  understand  how  anyone  can  remain  unchanged. 
The  fai^adc  of  Milan  Cathedral,  with  its  dream  of 
glorious  pinnacles,  seemed  to  him  as  if  every  statue 
thereon  was  "a  very  beautiful  martyr's  memorial." 
Then  rcncliing  Geneva  he  attempts  the  risky  crossing 
of  the  Col  du  Geant,  and  of  this  adventure  ho  gives 


THE  LIBRARY,   MERTON   COLLEGE,   OXFORD. 

such  a   capital   account   that    we  are   tempted    to  let 
Patteson  tell  the  story  ih  his  own  words, — 

"On  Monday  at  4.15  a.m.  we  started  from  the 
Montanvert  with  our  alpenstocks,  plenty  of  ropes,  and 
a  hatchet  to  cut  steps  in  the  ice.  We  walked  quickly 
over  the  Mer  de  Glace,  and  in  about  three  hours  came 
to  the  difficult  part.  I  had  no  conception  of  what  it 
would  be.     We  had  to  ascend  perpendicular  walls  ol 


34 


BISHOP  FATJESON. 


ice,  thirty,  forty,  and  fifty  feet  high,  by  little  holes 
which  we  cut  with  the  hatchet,  and  to  climb  over 
places  not  a  foot  broad  with  enormous  crevasses  on 
each  side.  I  was  determined  not  to  give  in,  and  said 
not  a  word ;  hut  1  thought  that  no  one  had  a  right  to 
expose  himself  to  such  danger  if  known  beforehand. 
After  about  three  hours  spent  in  this  way  (during 
which  I  made  but  one  slip,  when  I  slid  about  twelve 
feet  down  a  crevasse,  but  providentially  did  not  lose 
my  head,  and  saved  myself  by  catching  at  a  broken 
ridge  of  ire,  rising  up  in  the  crevasse,  round  which  1 
threw  my  leg  and  worked  my  way  up  it  astride)  we 
got  to  the  region  of  snow,  and  here  the  danger  was  of 
falling  into  hidden  crevasses. 

"  We  all  five  fastened  ourselves  to  one  another  with 
ropes.  1  went  in  the  middle,  Couttet  in  front,  then 
Payot.  Most  unluckily,  the  weather  began  to  cloud 
over,  and  soon  a  sharp  hailstorm  began,  with  every 
indication  of  a  fog.  We  went  very  cautiously  over 
the  snow  for  about  three  hours,  sinking  every  now  and 
then  up  to  our  middles,  but  only  once  in  a  crevasse, 
when  Couttet  suddenly  fell,  singing  out, '  Tirez  !  Tirez!* 
but  he  was  pulled  out  instantly.  We  had  now  reached 
the  top,  but  the  fog  was  so  dense  that  1  could  scarcely 
see  thirty  feet  before  me,  and  the  crevasses  and  moun- 
tains of  snow  looming  close  around  us  looked  awful. 
At  this  moment  the  guides  asked  me  if  1  must  make  the 
passage.  1  said  instantly  that  I  wanted  to  do  so,  but 
that  1  would  sooner  return  at  once  than  endanger  the 
lives  of  any  of  them.  They  told  me  that  there  was 
certainly  great  danger,  they  had  lost  their  way,  but 
were  unwilling  to  give  up.  For  an  hour  and  a  half 
we  had  stuck  in  the  fog,  among  the  crevasses,  trying 
every  way  to  find  the  pass,  which  is  very  narrow,  wet 
to  the  skin  and  in  constant  peril,  but  we  knew  that  the 
descent  of  the  Chamouni  side  is  far  more  difficult  than 
that  on  the  Courmayer  side.  At  last  all  the  guides 
agreed  that  it  was  impossible  to  find  the  way,  said  the 
storm  was  increasing,  and  that  our  only  chance  was  to 


i 


THE  STUDENl  AT  OXl-ORD  AND  ABROAD.   35 

return  at  once.  So  we  did,  but  the  fearful  difliculties 
of  the  descent  I  shall  never  forget.  Even  in  the 
finest  weather  they  reckon  it  very  dillicult,  but  yester- 
day we  could  not  see  the  wny,  we  were  numbed  with 
the  intense  cold,  and  dispirited  from  being  forced  to 
return. 

"  In  many  places  the  hail  and  sleet  had  washed  out 
the   traces   we   trusted    as   guides.     After   about   four 
hours  we  had  passed  the  most  dangerous  part,  and  in 
another  hour  we  were  safely  upon  the  Mer  de  Glace, 
which  we  hailed  with  delight ;   Couttet,  who  reached 
the  point  of  safety  first,  jumping  on  the  firm  ice  and 
shouting   to   me,    ' //  tiy  plus   dc   daii^er,    Monsieur: 
Here  we  took  off  the   ropes   and   drank  some  more 
brandy,  and  then  went  as  hard  as  we  could,  jumping 
across  crevasses,  which  two  days  before  I  should  have 
thought    awkward,   as   if  they   were  cart-ruts.      We 
reached  Chamouni  at  8.30  p.m.,  having  been  sixteen 
and  a  quarter  hours  without  resting.     I  was  not  at  all 
tired;  the  guides  thanked  me  for  having  given  them 
so  little  trouble,  and  declared  1  had  gone  on  as  well 
as  themselves.     Indeed  I  was  providentially  unusually 
clear-headed  and  cool,  and  it  was  not  till  the  danger 
was  over  that  I  felt  my  nerves  giving  way.     There  was 
a  good  deal  of  anxiety  about  us  at  Chamouni,  as  it  was 
one  of  the  worst  days  ever  seen  here.     Hornby  had 
taken  all  my  clothes  to  Geneva,  so  I  put  on  a  suit  of 
the  landlord's,  had  some  tea,  and  at  1 1  p.m.  went  to 
bed,  not  forgetting,  you  may  be  sure,  to  thank  God 
most  fervently  for  His  merciful  protection,  as  on  the 
ice  I  did  many  times  with  all  my  heart." 

The  special  and  preventing  Providence  which  attends 
the  feet  of  those  who  are  marked  out  for  signal 
usefulness  upheld  Patteson  amid  these  Alpine  perils 
The  rope  which  linked  him  to  the  guides  along  those 
slippery  places  held  also  the  fortune  of  those  distant 
islands  where  the  fnmded  palms  waved  ovei  a  darkened 
humanity.  The  fine  English  pluck  and  endurance 
which  Patteson  exhibited  under  those  circumstances 


J 


.^6 


lilSIIOP  rATl'ESON. 


was  an  earnest  of  that  heroism  which  enabled  him  in 
the  (lays  to  come  to  do  and  to  suffer  so  many  things 
for  Christ's  sake. 

Leaving  the  sunny  mountains  hehiml,  Patteson  next 
passed  on  to  Dresden,  where,  no*  neglectful  of  the  gift 
which  was  in  him,  he  stays  to  study  Hebrew  under  a 
German  stivant.  lie  also  began  an  intense  application 
to  Arabic,  and  determined  to  acquire  a  thorough 
mastery  of  Oriental  languages,  ;th  the  aim  through- 
out of  better  understanding  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and 
fitting  himself  more  perfectly  for  useful  work. 

In  a  second  tour  on  the  Continent,  which  he  under- 
took immediately  after  Christmas,  185 1,  he  reached 
again  the  lovely  land  of  Italy,  and  wandered  through 
the  newly  excavated  ruins  of  Pompeii.  Working  north- 
wards, he  entered  that  great  city  which,  on  reaching 
Appii  Forum,  St.  Paul  saw  and  thanked  God  and  took 
courage.  To  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  it  was 
the  end  of  his  painful  wanderingf,  and  was  to  form  the 
scene  of  his  martyrdom ;  to  Patteson,  who  passed  its 
gates  an  earnest  visitor,  it  was  peopled  with  many 
memories,  not  only  of  the  classic  spges  and  heroes  of 
Rome's  great  history,  bui  reccing  the  footsteps  and 
presence  of  him  who  "  there  dwelt  two  whole  years 
in  his  own  hired  house,  and  received  all  that  came  unto 
him,  preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  teaching  those 
things  which  concern  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  with  all 
confidence,  no  man  forbidding  him." 

Patteson  found  in  Rome  a  perfect  enjoyment  among 
the  statuary  and  architecture  which  makes  the  city  of 
the  Caesars  the  centre  of  art  and  beauty.  But  to  him, 
as  to  St.  Paul,  it  had  its  other  side,  and  although  it 
was  no  longer  under  the  shadow  of  heathen  Nero, 
there  lurked  through  all  its  ancient  glories  the  gloomy 
and  wicked  spirits  of  Marian  idolatry  and  Papal  mis- 
government.  Rome  then  was  far  different  from  the 
Eieinal  City  of  to-day.  The  place  was  politically  as 
well  as  religiously  a  scandal  to  the  \vorld.  The  mind 
of  tlie   young    English    student   was   shocked   at   the 


4 


ii 


r//£  STUDENT  AT  OXFORD  AND  ABROAD.  37 

worship  of  saints  and  images  ;  the  infamies  of  the 
confessional  and  the  ignorant  cupidity  of  the  priests 
roused  him  to  indignation.  Possibly  many  things  he- 
had  heard  in  Oxford  came  again  to  his  mind,  and  in 
the  very  centre  of  its  unchecked  power  lie  saw  Rome 
as  it  really  is.  The  impression  produced  on  his  minri 
was  firmly  fixed  through  all  hir-  after  life,  and  m.ide 
him  treasure  more  tenaciously  than  ever  the  grand  and 
saving  simplicities  of  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints. 

When  Pattcson  was  at  Venice  on  this  second  tour, 
he  received  intelligence  in  one  of  his  letters  from  his 
father  that  he  had  decided  to  resign  his  judicial  duties. 
lie  had  been  now  a  judge  for  twenty-two  years,  and 
would  doubtless  have  continued  his  office  some  years 
longer,  but  a  defect  in  his  hearing  became  more  and 
more  a  distressing  burden  to  him  in  his  important 
functions.  At  the  same  time  his  age  of  sixty-two 
was  not  an  advanced  one  for  a  judge,  and  the  prospect 
of  his  going  from  the  Court  was  an  unteigned  regret 
to  all.  His  son  wrote  him  an  affectionate  and  admir- 
able letter,  expressing  again  and  again  that  real  r.nd 
respectful  love  which  he  had  for  him. 

He  grieved  over  Khv  .act  that  he  was  then  in  Venice 
and  Florence,  so  many  miles  away,  and  not  at  home 
to  take  part  in  this  trying  event.  However,  we  are 
able  at  a  distance  of  years,  as  he  at  a  distance  of  hill 
and  dale,  to  call  up  the  picture  of  that  farewell  to  the 
Bar,  which  took  place  on  the  lOlh  February,  1 85 2,  at 
the  Court  of  Queen's  Bench.  Sir  Alexander  Cockburn, 
as  leading  counsel  and  Attorney-General,  spoke  for 
those  who  had  been  working  professionally  under  the 
guidance  of  the  judge  for  so  many  years.  The  farewell 
speech  of  the  venerable  lawyer  deserves,  in  some  sen- 
tences at  least,  a  record  here.  It  portrays,  at  a  time 
when  the  true  character  of  a  man  is  specially  tested, 
a  spirit  of  humility  and  pious  recognition  of  Divine 
assistance  which  is  worthy  the  father  '  the  future 
Bishop.     His  voice  is  tremulous  with  euution  as  he 


3S 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


\  ! 


summons  up  his  strength  and  nerve  to  utter  these 
parting  words, — 

"Mine  is  one  of  the  many  instances  which  I  know 
that  a  public  man  without  pre-eminent  abilities,  if  he 
will  but  exert  such  as  it  has  pleased  God  to  bestow  on 
him  honestly  and  industriously,  and  without  ostenta- 
tion, is  sure  to  receive  public  approbation  fully  com- 
mensurate with,  and  generally  much  beyond,  his  real 
merits,  and  I  thank  God  if  I  shall  be  found  not  to  have 
fallen  entirely  short  in  the  use  of  ose  talents  which 
He  has  entrusted  to  me." 

In  other  words,  he  gracefully  apologised  for  any  in- 
convenience that  his  defective  hearing  may  have  occa- 
sioned, and  for  any  hastiness  of  manner  he  might  have 
displayed  towards  those  who  had  so  patiently  borne 
with  his  infirmity.  Then  he  bowed  for  the  last  time, 
and  passed  from  a  judgment-seat  which  he  had  made 
still  more  honourable  by  his  integrity  and  ability,  and 
from  the  presence  of  a  troop  of  affectionate  and 
appreciative  friends.  Afterwards  he  lingered  still  about 
the  precincts  of  the  halls  of  justice,  and  took  chambers 
in  King's  Bench  Walk,  where  he  might  be  consulted ; 
for  his  elevation  to  the  dignity  of  the  Privy  Council 
had  enhanced,  if  such  a  thing  were  possible,  the  repu- 
tation he  already  possessed. 

Meanwhile  Patteson,  returning  from  his  journeyings, 
becomes  a  Fellow  of  Merton  College,  and  throws  him- 
self with  zeal  into  the  movement  for  reforming  the 
University,  which  at  that  time  was  in  progress.  It  is 
seen,  in  following  the  thread  of  his  life,  that  he  had 
a  strong  business  faculty,  and  could  not  only  con- 
tribute his  energetic  spirit  but  also  his  practical 
common  sense.  One  of  those  who  knew  him  at  this 
time  points  out  that  "  Patteson,  with  all  his  reform- 
ing zeal,  was  a  true-bred  gentleman."  He  had 
evidently  solvid  the  problem  of  doing  strong  and 
disturbing  work  with  a  gracious  and  kindly  spirit,  and 
while  proposals  were  being  mc;dc  which  would  involve 
radical  changi-S  in  the  worki^'^  of  the  University,  it  is 


;  ' 


THE  STUDENT  AT  OXFORD  A. YD  ABROAD-  39 

said  that  much  of  the  absence  of  friction  between  the 
parties  in  opposition  was  due  to  the  courtesy  of  the 
fu'^ure  missionary. 


MERTON  COLLEGE,  OXFORD. 

But  the  time  was  approaching  when  Talteson  must 
leave   the  towers  and   spires  of  Oxford   behind,  and 


40 


BTSHOP  PATTESON. 


Jierefore  with  redoubled  zeal  he  worked  away  at  his 
books  in  his  room  at  Merton  College.  "  I  try  to  make 
up  for  lost  time,"  said  he  ;  the  resolution  of  so  many 
earnest  hearts  who  feel  the  rapid  flight  of  opnortuiiities 
and  the  eyer-nearing  moment  when,  for  the'.n  at  least, 
time  shall  be  no  longer." 

Preparing  himself  for  ordination,  a  providential  dooi 
opened,  by  which  Patteson  was  able  at  once  to  taste 
t.:e  sweets  of  real  parish  work. 

Within  the  parish  of  Ottery  St.  Mary  lies  the 
village  of  Alfington;  and  the  church,  parsonage  and 
premises  were  built  on  a  little  hill  from  whence  could 
be  obtained  a  lovely  view  of  the  Vale  of  Iloniton 
The  living  was  in  the  gift  of  the  Coleridge  family,  and 
I  was  intended  that  Patteson  should  one  day  occupy 
the  pulpit.  In  the  meantime,  however,  a  worthv 
clergyman,  the  Rev.  Henry  Gardiner,  was  labouring 
in  the  parish  wit'i  much  acceptation,  until  a  severe 
i:.ness  hud  him  aside.  So  it  came  that,  in  t  le  becin- 
ning  of  the  year  1853,  Patteson  arrived  to  nurse  him 
and  at  the  same  time  to  assist  in  carrying  on  the 
work  in  I,  ,  absence.  Doth  duties  he  discharged  with 
laitliluiness. 

This  was  his  first  experience  of  managing  mankind  ; 
and  in  this  neglected  corner  of  English  agricultural  life 
there  was  space  enough  to  exercise  the  energy  of  his 
character.  His  first  work,  therefore,  was  anlong  the 
heathen  at  home.  Such  was  the  dense  ignorance  of 
these  cottage  people  that  he  was  startled  to  find  that 
under  an  Lnglish  sky,  the  laws  of  God  could  be  so  little 
understood  and  so  easily  ignored. 

In  his  letters  to  his  sister,  Patteson  describes  the 
scenes  and  conversations  which  attended  his  pastoral 
visits.  In  particular,  we  have  the  history  of  a  boy,  "a 
l.ttle  savage,"  he  calls  him,  who  had  been  sen!  to 
schoo..     This  untrained  child,  like  some  ill  weed,  had 

t^^Z  T\  '\  '"'i^'  ^?^.  '""'^  ""  dangerous  and  violent 
temper  had  developed  Uself,  that  neither  the  parents 
who  neglected  him,  nor  the  schoolmistress  w^o  did 


THE  STUDENT  AT  OXFORD  AND  ABROAD.   41 

her  best  with  him,  could  induce  him  to  obedience  and 
good  conduct.  All  through  his  life  Patteson  delighted 
in  the  education  and  regulation  of  a  boy's  mind,  and 
very  speedily  he  essayed  to  take  this  restive  specimen 
in  hand.  His  plan  was  straightforward  and  wise. 
First  he  reached  the  heart  of  tiie  boy,  that  far-away 
object  which  seems  to  have  been  scarcely  discovered 
before.  Taking  him  on  his  knee,  he  asked  him  rome 
questions,  "Did  he  know  who  God  was?"  "Had  he 
never  been  taught  to  kneel  down  and  say  his  prayers  ?  " 
The  boy  listened,  was  attracted,  and  saw  something 
in  the  eye  of  the  speaker  which  irresistibly  com- 
manded his  respect.  Then  Patteson  repaired  to  the 
cottage,  and  calmly  but  very  forcibly  talked  to  the 
parents  upon  their  shocking  neglect  of  duty.  They 
had  possibly  never  been  so  plainly  spoken  to  before, 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  his  earnest  words  were  not 
uttered  in  vain.  But  though  he  was  faithful  to  rebuke, 
Patteson  did  his  utmost  to  encourage  these  people  in 
habits  of  industry;  and  set  on  fc  a  variety  of 
schemes  and  institutions  to  help  the  ^oung  and  old 
to  nelp  themselves.  To  his  mind  ihis  small  group 
of  cottages  was  a  piece  of  ground  for  Divine  tillage ; 
with  something  of  the  practical  s  Irit  of  Kingsley, 
he  taught  the  peasants  habits  of  cleanliness  and 
thrift. 

In  the  midst  of  these  activities  his  mind  was  im- 
pressed with  the  prospect  of  his  forthcoming  ordina- 
tion, and  his  correspondence  shows  how  sharply  he 
was  proving  the  sincerity  of  his  motives.  In  the 
Easter  of  1853  he  passed  his  examination,  and  says 
afterwards,  as  regards  the  service  to  follow  which 
should  give  him  the  responsibility  of  a  fully  qualified 
clergyman,  "It  is  not  strange  that  the  realising  the 
near  approach  of  what  I  have  for  years  wished  for  and 
looked  forward  to  should  at  times  come  upon  me 
with  such  force  that  I  seem  scarcely  master  of  myself, 
but  it  is  only  excitement  of  feeling,  and  ought,  I  know,' 
to  be  repressed,  not  for  a  moment  to  be  entertained 


43 


BISHOP  PATTESOK. 


as  a  test  of  one's  religious  state,  .  ^ing  by  no  means  a 
desirable  thing." 

The  ordination  service  was  held  in  Exeter  Cathedral 
on  the  14th  of  September,  1853,  the  aged  Bishop  Phill- 
potts  placing  his  hands  upon  Patteson's  head.  A  solemn 
time, — and  never  had  those  grey  old  walls  looked  upon 
a  more  impressive  event!  It  was  the  sacred  con- 
secration point  of  a  pathway  which  was  to  lead  to 
a  martyr's  crown.  When,  subsequently,  Patteson 
preached  for  the  first  time  in  his  church  at  Alfington, 
his  relatives  were  sitting  before  him,  deeply  moved 
by  the  occasion.  With  a  good  deal  of  emotion,  re- 
strained as  far  as  possible,  he  feelingly  alluded  to  his 
parents  and  others,  to  whom  he  was  indebted  for 
prayers  and  counsel. 

His  text  was,  "We  preach  not  ourselves,  but  Christ 
Jesus  the  Lord,  and  ourselves  your  servants  for  Jesus' 
sake  ; "  an  assurance  of  which  his  whole  after  life  was 
a  confirmation  and  fulfilment. 

That  ardent  nature  of  his,  ever  reaching  forward  to 
great  things,  to  enlarged  opportunities,  and  overcoming 
of  strong  oppositions,  was  at  the  same  time  seeking  the 
lowliness  of  the  meek  in  heart. 

Since  the  cholera  of  1S32  had  swept  the  villages  on 
the  sea  coast  and  among  the  valleys  of  South  Devon, 
(here  had  been  a  real  quickening  of  the  religious  life  of 
the  inhabitants,  the  people  gathering  in  little  groups 
for  the  study  of  Holy  Scripture  ;  though  in  some  of  the 
churches  a  dcadness  and  apathy  existed.  Though  not 
attendants  at  church,  Patteson  was  too  good  a  man  not 
to  recognise  their  right  to  worship  God  according  to 
the  dictates  of  their  own  conscience.  His  mind  could 
never  be  cramped  and  fettered  by  narrow  views  of 
truth.  As  he  says  in  a  letter  to  his  father,  "  I  feel  no 
tendency  to  latitudinarianism,  but  only  to  see  mucli 
good  in  systems  unrecognised  by  your  seeming  high- 
flyers." It  is  difficult  to  understand  any  man  with  the 
true  missionary  spirit  being  otherwise  minded. 

The  position  he  held  now  and  the  future  prospects 


THE  STUDENT  AT  OXFORD  AND  ABROAD.    43 

of  his  ministerial  career  were  such  as  to  encourage 
satisfaction,  and  make  him  settle  down  to  the  comfort- 
able life  of  an  English  clergyman.  It  was  expected 
that  he  would  in  due  time  take  a  cure  of  souls  in  one  of 
the  large  manufacturing  towns,  where  there  would  have 
been  wide  scope  for  his  earnest  ambitions.  But  this 
was  not  to  be.     He,  in  whose  disposal  and  knowledge 


JOHN   COLERIDGE   PATTESON,   AT   THE  AGE   OF  TWENTY-SIX. 


are  the  purposes  of  men,  had  marked  out  for  Patteson 
a  different  path,  and  from  time  to  time  the  cry  of  the 
heathen,  which  he  first  heard  in  the  parish  church  at 
Windsor,  rung  again  in  his  ears. 

A  thread  of  Providential  leading,  unseen  to  others, 
hardly  understood  in  its  significance  even  by  himself, 
was  guiding  the  young  Alfington  curate  to  scenes  far 
different  from    this  quiet   nook   of  Devonshire.     The 


44 


BISHOP  PA  TTESON. 


impulse  of  this  is  felt  in  all  his  letters  at  this  time  "  I 
sometimes  hope,"  says  he,  "in  spite  of  my  many 
back-shdmgs  and  broken  resolutions,  some  wove  is 
taking  place  within  where  most  it  is  wanted."  It 
was  in  truth  the  crisis  which  comes  to  every  faith- 
ful heart,  the  moment  when  the  choice  of  duty  is 
deliberately  accepted,  and  the  consequences  taken  in 
God  s  name. 

Happily  at  this  interesting  point  of  his  career  we 
have  from  the  pen  of  Miss  Yonge  a  graphic  and  invalu- 
able portraiture  of  the  man  himself,— 

"He  was  tall,  and  of  a  large  powerful  frame,  broad 
at  the  chest  and  shoulders,  and  with  small  neat  hands 
and  feet,  with  more  of  sheer  muscular  strength  and 
power  of  endurance  than  of  healthiness,  so  that  though 
seldom  breaking  down,  and  capable  of  undergoing  a 
great  deal  of  fatigue  and  exertion,  he  was  often  slightly 
aihng,  and  was  very  sensitive  to  cold.     His  complexion 
was  very  dark,  and  there  was  a  strongly-marked  line 
between  the  cheeks  and  mouth,  the  corners  of  which 
drooped  when  at  rest,  so  that  it  was  a  countenance 
peculiarly  difficult   to   photograph   successfully.     The 
most  striking  feature  was  his  eyes,  which  were  of  a 
very  dark  clear  blue,  full  of  an  unusually  deep,  earnest, 
and,  so  to  speak,  inward  far-away  expression.     His 
smile  was  remarkably  bright,  sweet,  and  affectionate, 
like  a  gleam  of  sunshine,  and  was  one  element  of  his 
great  attractiveness ;  so  was  his  voice,  which  had  the 
rich  full  sweetness  inherited  from  his  mother's  family 
and    which   always  exerted  a  winning  influence  over 
the  hearers.     Thus,   though   not   a    handsome    man, 
he   was   more   than  commonly  engaging,  exciting  the 
warmest   affection   in   all   who   were   concerned    with 
him,    an.l   giving   in  return   an    immense    amount   of 
mterest    and    sympathy,    which    cnly   became   inten- 
sified to  old  friends  while  it  expanded  towards  new 
ones." 

In  his  parish  o   Alfington  he  had  tasted  some  of  the 
joys  and  not  a  few  of  the  sorrows  and  anxieties  of  the 


THE  STUDENT  A  T  OXFORD  AND  ABROAD.   45 

ministerial  office,  and  now  he  is  standing  on  the  thresh- 
old of  a  larger  destiny,  looking  out  over  the  horizon 
of  his  present  for  sonic  clear  indication  of  the  Divine 
purpose  as  to  the  next  step  he  shall  take  in  the  path 
of  duty. 


CHAPTER   III. 


FROM    DEVONSHIRE   TO    MELANESIA. 

"  Is  there  aiiglit  so  dear  to  me 
That  I  cannot  spare  for  Thee  ? 
In  the  casket  ot  my  heart 
Do  I  hide  from  Tlice  a  part  ? 

"All  my  treasures  now  I  pour 
At  Thy  feet  for  evermore  ; 
Love  and  will  and  life  are  Thine ; 
Rich  am  I  if  Thou  art  mine." 

IN  the  month  of  August,  1854,  Bishop  Sehvyn,  with 
his  noble  wife,  returned  again  to  his  native  land  to 
give  an   account  of  his  stewardship.     To  Bishop 
Selwyn,  full  of  a  new-born  love  for  the  souls  of 
these  poor  heathen,  their  wretched  state  only  excited 
sympathy  and  a  desire  to  bring  the  Gospel  to  lighten 
their  darkness. 

A  practical  obstacle  presented  itself  in  those  endless 
subdivisions  of  dialects,  enough  to  try  the  patience  and 
confound  the  linguistic  capacities  of  any  missionary. 
He  therefore  conceived  the  plan  of  inducing  the  native 
youths  to  leave  their  island  homes,  and  undergo  a 
course  of  instruction  to  fit  them  for  Christian  work 
among  their  fellows  on  their  return.     The  Bishop  pro- 


FROM  DEVONSHIRE  TO  MELANESIA.       47 

posed,  therefore,  to  utilise  St.  John's  College  at  Auck- 
land, which  he  had  instituted  for  the  education  of 
young  colonists,  for  the  benefit  of  these  young  Melane- 
sians.  Three  successive  visits  to  the  islands  in  the 
Mission  vessel  soon  furnished  the  material  required, 
and  it  was  clear  that  a  thoroughly  successful  enterprise 
had  been  initiated ;  but  what  was  wanted  most  was  a 
man  who  should  combine  this  double  qualification  of 
being  able  to  "  rough  it "  among  the  islands,  and  yet 
take  up  with  spirit  and  ability  the  education  and 
training  of  the  islanders  themselves. 

In  quest  of  such  help.  Bishop  Selvvyn  revisited 
i£ngland  again. 

Wherever  he  went  with  his  recital  of  Melanesian 
experiences,  a  siiong  interest  was  attracted  to  the 
work.  When  he  reached  Patteson  the  old  longing 
of  his  childish  heart  flamed  up  with  unquenchable 
devotion.  In  his  mind  Bishop  Selwyn  was  a  hero  of 
sacred  romance,  a  knight-errant  of  the  highest  and  most 
glorious  chivalry.  It  is  easy,  therefore,  to  imagine 
what  a  rush  of  feeling  came  over  him  when,  paying  a 
visit  to  Feniton,  he  met  the  Bishop  and  his  wife  again. 
We  are  told  that  after  the  first  words  of  welcome  and 
congratulation,  Patteson  hastened  to  find  a  place  of 
solitude  where  he  wept  freely.  The  next  morning 
found  him  back  again  to  his  parish  work,  but  it  waii 
only  to  revisit  Feniton  once  more,  and  this  time  to  gain 
the  ear  of  the  Bishop  with  the  subject  of  which  his 
heart  was  so  full. 

They  had  walked  about  the  garden  together,  talking 
generally  about  the  work  at  Alfington,  when  all  at 
once  the  Bishop  stopped  and  pointedly  asked  his 
companion  whether  the  work  really  satisfied  him.  Yes, 
in  many  respects  it  did;  of  course  it  was  no  small 
advantage  to  be  so  near  his  father,  whom  he  loved  so 
fondly,  in  his  declining  years.  But,  for  all  that,  he 
confessed  that  he  had  set  his  mind  upon  missionary 
work,  his  only  present  difficulty  being  the  severance 
from  his  father.     Still  he  meant,  God  helping  him,  to 


48 


BISHOP  VATrESON. 


go  out  some  day.  The  advice  ol"  the  Dish  .p  was  frank 
and  explicit. 

"Hut  if  you  think  about  doini;  a  thing  of  this  sort, 
it  should  nf  t  be  put  off  till  you  are  K<-tting  on  in 
life.  It  should  be  done  with  your  full  strength  and 
vigour." 

Then,  the  subjc  ;  being  fairly  launched,  a  long  con- 
versation ensued,  during  which  the  Bishop  sifted  very 
faithfully  the  purpose  and  aim  of  his  young  friend. 
He  was  not  disappointed  with  the  result.  It  was 
clear  that  the  early  call  was  deepening  every  day  in 
sincere  and  prayerful  conviction. 

The  interview  which  followed  between  Pattcson  and 
his  father  is  very  touching  in  its  simple  pathos.  It 
was  the  beginning  of  a  trial  of  human  fieling,  sancti- 
fied by  the  grace  of  God,  whereby  the  parent  was  to 
do  his  part  in  making  a  sacrifice,  like  the  great 
patriarch  of  old,  of  the  son  of  promise.  When  the 
subject  was  first  broached  to  him,  the  old  judge  was 
taken  aback  ;  his  presence  of  mind,  trained  by  years 
of  professional  practice  to  steady  itself  in  dealing  with 
questions  of  moment,  was  seen  in  his  reply, — 

"  You  have  done  quite  right  to  speak  to  me  and  not 
to  wait.  It  is  my  first  impulse  to  say  no,  but  that 
would  be  very  selfish." 

Like  a  true  son,  Pattcson  begged  his  father  to  take 
time  to  judge  the  matter  from  all  points,  and  not  to 
think  that  in  any  way  he  was  impatient  or  self-willed. 
A  short  time  afterwards  the  old  man  had  an  opportu- 
nity of  speaking  to  his  daughter  on  the  subject,  and 
when  he  knew  what  had  passed  between  his  son  and 
the  Bishop  in  that  garden  conversation,  he  hastened  to 
another  room  and  cried  out  with  passionate  entreaty, 
"  I  can't  let  him  go,"  but  scarcely  had  the  words 
escaped  his  lips  when  he  recalled  them  with  a  reverent 
recognition  of  the  Divine  will,  and  added,  "  God  forbid 
that  I  should  stop  him." 

It  is  not  difficult  to  s^e  that  this  froinf^  away  of 
Patteson  would  be  an  acute  loss  to  his  father.     The 


FROM  DFA'ON SHIRE  JO  MELANKSfA.       40 

old  judge  had  retired  from  public  life  willi  its  t  n- 
thralling  interests  and  companionships,  and  now  found 
in  his  son  a  great  comfort  in  his  declining  years.  Tlie 
natural  clinging  of  the  aged  to  the  alfection  and 
support  of  their  children,  tiie  love  which,  loosing  hold 
on  so  much  in  life,  grasps  with  greater  tenacity  the 
vigorous  arm  which,  witli  tender  solicitude,  supports 
their  uncertnin  footsteps  ns  the  shadows  thicken  in  the 
valley— all  this  Sir  John  felt  in  deciding  the  momentous 
question.  He  aibo  knew  his  son,  how  entirely  he 
loved  him,  how  for  his  .'?ake  even  this  treasured  in- 
tention would  be  abandoned.  The  responsibilit}', 
therefore,  he  felt  lay  so  much  at  his  door,  and  by  that 
Almighty  help  which  can  alone  strengthen  us  for  such 
an  act  of  self-repression,  the  father  gave  his  son  to 
God,  and  moreover  resolved  to  do  it  in  no  grudgiu" 
spirit,  and  without  qualificition. 

"Mind,"  said  he,  with  energy,  "1  give  him  up 
wholly,  not  with  any  thought  of  sec  ing  him  again.  I 
will  not  have  him  thinking  he  must  come  home  again 
to  see  me." 

It  now  only  remained  for  the  Bishop  to  see  Patteson 
again  and  tell  him  the  result  of  his  interview  with  his 
father.  It  was  an  immense  relief  to  the  mind  of  the 
young  man,  and  the  words  which  the  Bishop  then  and 
there  addressed  to  him  were  a  solemn  seal  to  his 
ministry  and  calling. 

"  Now,  my  dear  Cole^',  having  ascertained  your  own 
state  of  mind,  and  having  spoken  at  length  to  your 
father  and  your  family,  I  can  no  longer  hesitate,  as 
far  as  you  recognise  any  power  to  call  on  my  part,  to 
invite  you  most  distinctly  to  the  work." 

Then  he  added,  with  fatherly  affection  towards  this 
son  of  his  in  the  faith, — 

"  God  bless  you,  Coley  !  It  is  a  great  comfort  to 
me  to  have  you  for  a  friend  and  companion." 

In  his  correspondence  with  his  brother  at  this  time 
Patteson  opens  his  mind  freely  upon  this  crisis  in  his 
life.     The   spirit   of  the   new  missionary  is  revealed, 


v> 


niSllOP  PATTESOX, 


i  "' 


r  ! 

i  i 


strong  in  faith  and  a  manly  purposf,  but  humbly 
trusting  wlicre  alone  the  anchor  of  his  sonl  could 
find  security.  The  thouf;ht  of  those  he  would  leave 
behind,  and  especially  of  his  father,  who,  in  thus 
giving  his  consent,  had  broken  the  alabaster  box 
of  a  precious  self-sacrifice,  pressed  much  on  his 
thoughts! 

"  Think  of  me,"  he  says  to  his  brother,  in  one  of  his 
letters,  "think  of  me  and  pray  for  me,  my  dear  old 
fellow,  that  Ciod  will  give  me  more  of  your  own  un- 
selfishness and  love  an<l  interest  for  others,  and 
teach  me  to  act  not  according  to  my  own  will  and 
pleasure,  but  solely  with  a  view  to  His  honour  and 
glory." 

Then  he  assures  him  that  the  step  wh.^h  he  has 
taken  is  once  and  for  all,  and  that,  with  a  single  eye 
to  God's  glory,  he  must  press  towards  the  mark. 
With  h's  natural  inclination  to  metaphysics,  he  finds 
himself  analysing  his  mind  to  trace  the  working  of  this 
wonderful  step  in  a  new  career,  as  it  evolved  itself 
during  the  past  years ;  but  he  feels  that  he  must  put 
this  aside,  and  now  "  forget  myself  and  think  only 
of  the  work  whereunto  I  am  called."  To  lose  himself 
in  his  labours,  to  be  nothing,  that  his  Master's  service 
may  be  well  done,  this  was  his  resolve. 

Indeed,  through  the  lattice  windows  of  these  letters 
do  we  get  at  the  heart  of  the  man,  a  glimpse  of  human 
feelings,  strong  and  tender,  overruled  and  calmed  by 
a  Divine  and  perfect  love.  It  is  the  old  story,  repeated 
again  and  again  in  the  experience  of  all  those  who  are 
the  heroes  of  the  Cross  in  any  age  :  the  sacrifice  and 
self-renouncing  which  uproots  and  rends,  and  the 
soothing  Gilead  balm  of  that  peace  which  passeth  all 
understanding,  and  binds  up  for  ever  the  wounds  of 
the  heart-broken  for  Christ's  sake. 

There  are  some  men  of  strong  fibre  of  character 
and  rock-like  firmness,  who  have  not  the  tenderness 
of  love  which  is  the  sweet  undertone  harmonising 
all  life's  jarring  tones.     But   such  was  not  the  case 


FROM  DF.VONS:  'RK  TO  MH  {S^ESIA.       si 


with  Patteson.  While,  as  wc  shall  ste  in  his  siih- 
stquent  rarier,  possessed  of  a  lioii-ln  nrtcd  coiiragr 
amounting  almost  to  a  vcnturcsomencss,  he  who  knew 
no  fear  knew  also  how  to  simply  love.  Had  it  not 
been  for  this  afTcctionate  and  winsome  characteristic  of 
the  future  IJishop  of  Melanesia,  he  would  not  have 
f-een  all  he  was,  by  God's  grace,  to  his  dusky  flock. 
This  is  exhibited  distinctly  by  a  letter  which  he  wrote 
to  a  little  fatherless  girl,  eight  years  old,  for  whom, 
in  her  childish  soli- 
tude, he  had  a  ten- 
der regard. 

As  may  be  read- 
ily imaginetl,  the 
news  of  his  intend- 
ing departure  was 
received  by  his  poor 
parishioners  at  Al- 
fington  with  un- 
feigned regret. 
During  the  seven- 
teen weeks  of  his 
sojourn  among 
them,  Patteson  had 
made  friends  of  all, 
and  it  was  hard  for 
them  to  appreciate 
his  reasons  for  leav- 
ing them  for  distant 
work  in  other  lands.  Hut  of  Patteson  it  might  be 
said,  by  those  who  had  a  deeper  insight  into  his  large- 
ness of  heart  and  devotion,  that,  like  Wesley,  his 
parish  was  the  world. 

The  hour  of  actual  parting  soon  came.  At  Black- 
wall  Dock  the  new  Mission  schooner,  the  Southern 
Cross,  was  being  constructed  for  the  special  work  of 
Melanesia.  Patteson  spent  some  days,  in  preparing 
his  requisites  for  the  voyage,  in  London,  and  then 
paid  a  last  visit   to  Feniton.     The  country  lay  in  its 


A   MAORI  GROt'P, 


5» 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


il 


wintry  garment  of  snow,  and  those  days  seem  to  have 
been  briglitened  by  the  joyous  bound  of  his  animal 
spirits,  as,  with  his  accustomed  relish  for  skating,  he 
had  a  capital  time  on  the  ice.  There  was  a  large 
family  party  staying  at  the  old  house,  and  we  read 
how  one  day,  when  out  skating,  he  gave  the  old 
housekeeper  a  mingled  experience  of  terror  and  de- 
light by  skimming  her  over  the  ice  in  a  chair,  flinging 
meanwhile  nuts  to  the  boys  who  scrambled  after 
him.  ■ 

His  departure  was  a  little  delayed  by  the  Southern 
Cross  proving  somewhat  unsatisfactory,  and  it  was  not 
till  the  25th  of  March  that  he  really  said  good-bye. 
That  word  which  is  the  hardest  to  utter  broke  away 
from  his  full  heart,  as,  with  his  sisters  and  father  at 
the  door  of  home,  he  saw  a  last  glimpse  of  faces  he 
was  never  to  look  upon  again.  The  sisters  watched 
him  as  long  as  he  was  in  sight,  and  then  returned  to 
find  their  father  sitting  in  his  room,  his  Bible  on  his 
knee.  From  that  moment  in  the  family  prayers  a 
special  and  tremulous  reference  was  made  in  the 
supplication  of  God's  blessing  on  the  missionaries. 
"  especially  for  the  absent  member  of  this  family." 

On  the  deck  of  the  Duke  oj  Portland,  which  was  to 
bear  him  away,  Patteson  parted  with  his  uncle  and 
brother  James,  and  was  soon  on  his  voyage.  A  last 
line  had  been,  however,  despatched  to  his  father, 
telling  him  that  he  was,  thank  God,  calm  and 
cheerful,  and  adding,  "  1  stayed  a  few  minutes  in 
the  churchyard  after  I  Wi  you,  picked  a  few  prim- 
rose buds  from  dear  mamma's  grave,  and  then  walked 
on." 

At  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  vessel  had  weighed 
anchor,  and  slowly  drifted  down  the  Channel  with  the 
tide,  and  Patteson,  on  the  deck,  looked  with  wistful 
eyes  towards  the  lessening  shore,  feeling  how  he  had, 
in  a  deeper  sense,  parted  too  from  his  moorings,  and 
was  now  loosed  from  home  and  kindred,  setting  sail 
for  a  future  of  danger,  triumph,  and  high  endeavour. 


FROM  DEVONSHIRE  TO  MELANESIA.       53 


One  who  was  with  him  on  this  voyage  has  borno 
testimony  to  his  impression  of  Patteson,  as  a  worker 
who,  having  set  his  hand  to  the  plough,  was  not  hkcly 
to  look  back  with  any  misgivings.  He  had  left  much 
of  his  heart  behind  him,  but  a  great  love  was  in  the 
land  to  which  every  wave  overpassed  by  the  keel  of 
the  vessel  bore  him,  and  he  yearned  to  see  those 
black  brothers  of  his  who  should  henceforth  be  his 
constant  care. 

Leaving  Patteson  and  his  party,  we  will  forerun  the 
voyagers  and  glance  at  the  islands  which  are  to  form 
the  sphere  of  their  work.     The  savage  character  of 
the  natives  we  have  already  referred  to;  here  truly 
was  Heber's  hymn  an  expression  of  fact,  for,  with  a 
prospect   of  an  almost  prodigality  of  nature's  loveli- 
ness, "only  man  is  vile."     Amid  these  coral  islands, 
where  the  waving  palms  mirror  themselves  in  quiet 
lagoons,  and  trailing  flowers  from   branch  to  branch 
breathe  exquisite  perfumes,  the  only  visitors  from  the 
civilised  world  were  unscrupulous  traders,  who  sought 
at  the  risk,  and  often  at  the  cost  of  their  lives,  tlie  rich 
supplies  of  sandal-wood,  or,  on  the  coral  strand,  the 
bcche  de  via;   both    for   the   Chinese   markets.     The 
natives  had  not   formed  a  very  high  opinion  of  the 
character  of  white  men,  and,  until  the  visit  of  Bishop 
Selwyn,    had   never  heard  of  that  message  of  peace 
which  is  for  every  soul  for  whom  Christ  died.     After 
his   first  visit  in  the  Dido,  the  Bishop  again  landed 
from  the  deck  of  the  Border  Maid.     While  the  islands 
of  Melanesia  had  been  untouched  by  missionary  enter- 
prise, the  Polynesian  Islands  and  those   of  Fiji  were 
better  off,  being  already  nobly  worked  by  the  London 
and  the  Wesleyan   Missionary  Societies  respectively, 
and  at  Tanna,  in  the  New  Hebrides,  the  Presbyterian 
Mission    had   a   flourishing    station.      Attention    had 
already  been  excited  at  home  to  this  part  of  the  Mission- 
field  by  the  death  of  John  Williams  and  his  companions 
at   Erromanga;  but   the   interest   then  awakened  had 
begun  to  diminish  when  Bishop  Selwyn  canie  into  the 


ili 


54 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


ii  , 


field.  He  did  his  best  to  conciliate  the  natives,  touch- 
ing at  the  Loyalty  Islands,  New  Caledonia,  and  the 
Isle  of  Pines,  and  was  successful  in  persuading  a  few 
youths  to  accompany  him  on  his  return.  The  greatest 
nerve  and  good-humour  was  needed  in  the  work,  for 
the  people  had  been  aggravated  b)'  several  recent 
collisions  with  the  traders,  some  of  them  attended  by 
massacres  and  dreadful  scenes.  But  one  of  the 
strongest  features  of  the  Mission  party  was  its  utter 
absence  of  arms,  a  trustfulness  which,  without  means 
of  defence,  throws  itself  upon  that  sense  of  honour 
which  is  found  in  the  most  degraded  and  ignorant. 
Sometimes  the  present  of  a  few  fish-hooks,  combined 
with  a  kindly  demeanour,  would  bring  round  a  crowd 
of  naked  fellows,  to  reach  whom  the  Bishop  had  waded 
alone  a  considerable  distance  from  the  ship.  Then 
would  follow  words  and  signs,  more  of  the  latter 
perhaps,  but  at  any  rate  distinguishable  to  the  natives. 
The  aim  of  course  being  always  to  get  them  to  let  a 
few  of  their  younger  companions  come  on  board  and 
accompany  the  ship.  The  following  will  represent  one 
of  these  addresses, — 

"  No  fight,  no  bow,  no  spear,  ship  very  good,  plenty 
food,  plenty  yam,  plenty  cocoanut,  plenty  clothes,  all 
same  as  this  (pointing  to  his  own  old  garments 
dripping  with  sea  water),  very  good  !  these  boys  away, 
stop  with  me — my  land  very  good,  no  fight,  ten 
moons  we  come  back,  by-and-by  plenty  talk — boys 
come,  I  hear  boys  talk  by-and-by,  plenty  rnan  go 
to  my  land,  my  land  New  Zealand — you  say  New 
Zealand." 

In  most  cases  such  an  appeal  succeeded ;  at  any  rate 
no  insult  was  offered  to  the  visitors,  and  a  ground  of 
confidence,  however  slight,  was  established  to  be 
worked  upon  at  a  future  visit.  But  it  was  not  always 
so. 

For  instance,  when  the  Border  Maid  touched  at 
Mallicolo  in  1 85 1,  the  natives  were  very  threatening, 
and  the  Bishop  and  his  party,  who  had  landed,  were, 


i 


(if 


S6 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


\% 


humanly  speaking,  only  preserved  from  being  massa- 
cred on  the  spot  by  great  presence  of  mind,  which 
enabled  them  to  walk  down  to  the  boat  surrounded  by 
an  angry  crowd,  armed  and  brandishing  all  their 
wcaponl. 

One  of  the  most  promising  of  the  young  converts 
was  Siapo,  a  chief  from  the  island  of  Nengone.     When 
this  young  fellow  was  brought  to  the  college  at  New 
Zealand  he  exhibited  great  aptitude  in  his  studies,  but 
health    failing  from  the  change  of  climate,  he  had  to 
return  to  his  genial  native  air.     Soon  he  recovered  and 
longed  to  go  back  again,  begging  that  his  betrothed, 
the  gentle  Wabisanc,  might  be   his   companion.     To 
this  the  Bishop  consented,  and  contrived  on  the  voyage, 
by  a  skilful  manipulation  of  his  own  counterpane,  to 
array  the  dark  maiden  and  her  attendant  native  girl 
with  petticoats  decorated  with  scarlet  ribbon.     A  mis- 
sionary Bishop  has  to  do  and  endure  many  unconven- 
tional things,  but  this  is  possibly  the  only  instance  on 
record   of  an   episcopal   dignitary   being    successfully 
engaged  in  the  mysteries  of  the  dressmaker's  art.     But 
the  instance  exactly  illustrates  the  practical  and  unsel- 
fish ciiai  acter  of  Bishop  Selwyn,  of  whom  it  is  recorded 
in  his  admirable  biography,  that  on  one  occasion,  being 
refused  the  shelter  of  a  hut  by  an  inhospitable  chief,  he 
had    to   content  himself  with  a  pig-sty,  in  which  he 
passed  the  night  with  that  content  and  patience  which 
sweetens  the  hardest  lot. 

In  this  brief  retrospect  of  the  work  which  Patteson 
was  presently  to  take  up,  another  young  Melanesian 
must  find  a  space.  He  was  a  little  boy  called  Umao, 
who  had  been  for  a  long  time  the  attached  and  un- 
wearied nurse  of  an  English  sailor  of  no  high  type,  for 
throughout  his  sickness  he  seems  to  have  treated'  the 
lad  with  great  roughness.  This  little  fellow  was  picked 
up  at  Tanna,  and  carried  back  to  Sydney  with  the 
sailor,  dying  in  the  arms  of  the  Bishop  while  in  the  act 
of  being  received,  by  the  rite  of  baptism,  into  the  Chris- 
tian  Cliurch.     lie   was  one  of  the  lirstfruits  of  the 


FROM  DEVONSHIRE  TO  MELANESIA.       57 

Mission,  and  led  the  way  to  heaven.     The  mortality 
among  these  young  Melanesians  when  brought  to  New 
Zealand  for  education,  forced  upon  the  mind  of  Bishop 
Selwyn  the  necessity  of  finding  a  spot  where  the  air 
was  congenial ;  and  as  it  had  just  been  decided  by  the 
English  Government  to  transfer  the  famous  mutineers 
of  the  Bounty  from  the  old  home  at  Pitcairn's  Island  to 
Norfolk  Island,  he  determined  to  establish  a  sort  of 
sanatorium  at  the  latter  place.     It  was  just  at  this  time, 
in  face  of  the  increased  expense  such  a  change  must 
involve,    that    Bishop    Selwyn    returned    home,    and 
begged   for   that   assistance   which   found   its  highest 
embodiment  in  the  young  Oxonian  who  was  returning 
with  him  now  in  the  Duke  of  Portland.     In  the  great 
war  in  the  Crimea,  the  nation  was  spending  lavishly 
the  costly  price  of  her  treasure  and  her  sons.     At  the 
University  of  Cambridge  twelve  hundred  young  men 
volunteered   to   fill   up   the  gaps  in   the  field.     Such 
patriotism    was   splendid,    but   the   Bishop   made    his 
appeal  for  a  higher  service,  and,  in  words  as  follows, 
begged  the  undergraduates  to  enlist  in  a   yet  nobler 
enterprise, — 

"Let  the  Head  of  our  Church  have  about  Him,  as 
His  staff  and  on  His  list  of  volunteers,  a  body  of  young 
men  who  are  ready  to  go  anywhere  and  do  anything. 
If  but  fifty  men  in  each  University  would  every  year 
renounce  the  hope  of  quic  -sidence  in  a  college,  or  of 
domestic  comfort  in  a  rural  ^.arish,  there  would  be  men 
enough  at  the  disposal  of  the  Church  to  officer  every 
outlying  post  of  her  work.  We  want  men  of  mind  and 
faith  to  mould  the  institutions  of  our  infant  colony ; 
above  all,  we  need  men  who  can  stand  alone,  like 
heaven-descended  priests  of  the  most  high  God,  in  the 
midst  of  the  lonely  wilderness." 

In  yonder  vessel,  slowly  making  her  way  through 
buffeting  waves  to  New  Zealand,  is  a  beating  heart  full 
of  inspiration  to  spend  itself  for  God  in  "  the  lonely 
wilderness."  He  is  the  "  man  of  mind  and  faith  "  for 
whom  the   Bishop  asked   so   urgently,   a  mind  with 


fA 


T 


I:  1 


'1:1 


58 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


capacities  of  inestimable  value  to  the  work  approaching, 
a  faith  deep,  simple,  implicit,  which  rests  unshaken  on 
the  Rock  of  Ages, 

Henceforth   we  shall   follow   his  footsteps  in   this 
narrative  till  they  stop  at  a  martyr's  grave. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


ST.  John's  college  and  the  first  cruise. 


"  And  other  sheep  have  I,  where  fronded  palms 

Wave  over  isi  .nds  in  a  sunny  sea. 
I  am  their  Shepherd  too  ;  these  outstretched  arms 

Bid  them  a  loving  welcome  unto  Me. 
Tell  them  My  name  of  Love,  and  call  them  home 
From  sin's  dark  distance  where  they  blindly  roam." 


"  JDATHER  hot.  It  is  very  fine  to  see  all  the  stars 
-*  *-  of  the  heavens  almost  rise  and  pass  overhead 
and  set — Great  Bear  and  Southern  Cross  shining  as 
in  rivalry  of  each  other,  and  both  hemispheres  showing 
forth  all  their  glory.  Only  the  Polar  Star  that  shines 
straight  above  you  is  gone  below  our  horizon ;  and 
One  alone  knows  how  much  toil  and  perhaps  sorrow 
there  may  be  in  store  for  me  before  I  see  it  again. 
But  there  is  and  will  be  much  happiness  and  comfort 
also,  for  indeed  I  have  great  peace  of  mind  and  a  firm 
conviction  that  I  am  doing  what  is  right,  a  feeling  that 
God  is  directing  and  ordering  the  course  of  my  life,  and 
whenever  I  take  the  only  true  view  of  the  business  of 
life  I  am  happy  and  cheerful." 


I 


I 


60  BISHOP  PATTESON. 

These  words  Patteson  writes  in  his  journal  when  in 
latitude  4°  N.,  longitude  25°  W.,  on  the  great  sea. 
They  speak  the  mind  made  up,  tell  of  the  great  peace 
which  has  settled  like  a  soothing  cloud  of  blessing 
upon  the  heart,  sensitive  and  tried  with  the  sorrow  of 
farewell.  He  has  begun  already  to  bury  the  past,  so 
far  as  its  interest  might  impede  the  full-hcartcdness  of 
his  future ;  and,  standing  on  the  deck  in  that  starry 
night,  girds  himself  as  a  strong  man  to  run  the  glorious 
race. 

He  was  delighted  to  find  that  his  would  be  the  con- 
genial occupation  of  accompanying  the  Bishop  on  his 
visits  to  the  islands,  and  few  men  were  more  naturally 
in  sympathy  with  the  sea  than  he.  He  was  a  born 
sailor,  and  this  fact  greatly  pleased  the  Bishop,  who 
knew  so  well  how  important  a  qualification  it  would 
prove  for  the  life  before  him.  In  the  voyage  these  two 
had  many  happy  opportunities  of  converse,  getting  to 
know  each  other  better  every  day,  and  laying  out  plans 
for  the  future.  Bishop  Selwyn  writes  to  a  friend  at 
the  time,  and  gives  this  emphatic  testimony  to  the 
worth  of  his  new  yoke-ftllow, — 

"Coley  Patteson  is  a  treasure  which  I  humbly  stt 
down  as  a  Divine  recompense  for  our  own  boys." 

Two  things  made  Patteson  busy  on  the  way;  first, 
an  attempt  to  master  the  Maori  language  ;  and,  secondly, 
the  practice  of  navigation.  In  ihe  former  we  have 
already  seen  that  he  had  the  gift  of  tongues ;  in  the 
latter  he  showed  an  equal  proficiency,  entering  into 
its  minutest  details  with  the  same  zest  as  if  he  had 
been  the  stroke  oar  in  the  University  boat. 

At  last  they  arrived  at  Auckland,  which  he  describes 
in  one  of  his  letters  as  a  small  seaside  town,  composed 
chiefly  of  roughly-built  houses,  among  which  the  Wes- 
leyan  Chapel,  the  Roman  Catholic  Chapel,  and  the 
Episcopal  Church  of  St.  Paul  stand  out  with  a  look 
which  reminds  him  of  home. 

He  finds  that  his  work  will  lie  at  the  college  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Auckland,  .vhere  there  is  a  resident 


Sr.  JOHN' S  COLLEGE  A  ND  THE  FIRST  CR  VISE.  6 1 


fl 


clergyman,  and  after  he  has  been  there  a  little  time 
he  hopes  to  go  on  his  first  cruise  with  his  Bishop.  At 
present,  however,  it  is  essential  that  he  should  master 
the  language,  and  this  he  will  do  chiefly  by  constant 
contact  with  the  Maoris  at  St.  John's. 

As  he  might  have  e.xpectcd,  Patteson  soon  found 
that  he  would  be  in  "labours  abundant,"  and  in  the 
midst  of  his  new  surroundings  he  would  have  "to 
endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier  of  Christ." 

"  I  clean,  of  course,  my  room  in  part,  make  my  bed, 
help  to  clear  away  things  after  meals,  etc.,  and  am 
quite  accustomed  to  do  without  servants  for  anything 
but  cooking." 

He  is  delighted  with  the  little  chapel,  with  its  rccom- 
modation  for  about  seventy  people ;  and  on  his  fir?t 
Sunday  there,  is  deeply  moved  by  hearing  the  old 
Psalms  chanted  by  the  worshippers.  Then  he  walks 
six  miles  and  preaches  his  first  sermon  in  Maori,  and 
is  so  successful  that  a  native  afterwards  remarked  to 
the  Archdeacon,  who  usually  conducted  service,  "  Why 
do  you  not  speak  like  ze  Pattihana  ?  " 

He  is  struck  with  the  different  shades  of  complexion 
among  the  natives,  varying  from  a  light  brown  to  an 
intense  black,  and  some  of  them  elaborately  tattooed 
from  top  to  toe.  He  speaks  of  one  man  whose  face 
was  so  covered  with  a  regular  pattern  that  scarcely  a 
spot  remained  untouched,  each  cheek  being  marked 
with  a  corresponding  pattern.  There  seems  to  be  a 
distinguishing  mark  for  each  tribe,  some  being  known 
at  once  by  the  design  on  the  face.  He  makes  strange 
acquaintances  here ;  one  a  young  chief  whose  father 
had  the  honour  of  a  presentation  to  George  IV. ;  a 
doubtful  character,  however,  this  ancestor  was,  for  he 
boasted  that  he  and  his  braves  had  put  to  death  an 
entire  tribe  which  formerly  lived  on  the  land  where 
the  college  buildings  stood.  There  was,  however,  this 
more  satisfactory  phase  of  the  incident,  that  this  young 
fellow,  the  scion  of  such  an  evil  stock,  was  the  first 
New  Zealander  who  had,  as  an  infant,  been  baptized. 


\\ 


I  I 


6a 


BISHOP  PATTKSON. 


1  \ 


't 


■    ! 


So  in  the  midst  of  these  strange  scenes,  Patteson 
begins  to  make  himself  at  home  in  his  new  woric,  to 
love  the  dark-skinned  men  who  looked  to  him  for  light 
and  teaching,  to  taste  the  elixir  of  that  sacred  ambition 
which  was  a  new  life  to  him.  In  a  very  true  sense, 
he  had  turned  his  back  upon  his  old  self,  buried  it, 
in  fact,  with  the  sacrifice  he  had  made  in  leaving  the 
English  shores. 

We  find  him  and  the  Bishop,  with  trousers  rolled 
up,  helping  to  release  some  cart-horses  on  the  beach. 
"  This  is  your  first  lesson  in  mud-larking,  Coley,"  was 
the  remark  of  Sclwyn  over  their  respective  appear- 
ances. 

Mud-larking  such  as  this  certainly  is  not  usual  with 
eminent  Church  dignitaries;  but  Patteson,  the  crack 
player  at  cricket  and  tennis,  is  quite  in  his  clement 
in  this  practice  of  muscular  Christianity.  A  strong- 
hearted,  hard-headed,  brave  man,  alike  physically  and 
spiritually  fit  for  the  Master's  use  in  such  a  work. 
And  yet  none  had  a  tenderer  clinging  towards  the 
home  and  loved  ones  he  had  left  behind. 

He  tells  his  sister  Fanny,  "  I  do  not  doubt  that  I 
am  where  I  ought  to  be ;  1  do  think  and  trust  that 
God  has  given  me  this  work  to  do,  but  I  need  earnest 
prayers  for  strength  that  I  may  do  it." 

He  sees  in  these  native  fellows  splendid  qualities, 
which  only  need  a  little  judicious  and  patient  training 
to  bring  out.  Certainly  the  untamed  heathen  is  not 
very  nice  company,  dirty  to  an  unimagined  extent, 
but  for  all  that  "  he  is  probably  intelligent,  hospitable, 
and  not  insensible  to  the  advantage  of  hearing  about 
religion."  " 

Two  texts,  he  tells  us,  are  specially  before  his  mind 
at  this  time ;  the  first,  "  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth 
to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might,"  a  word  to  stimulate  him 
to  exertion  and  enterprise ;  the  other,  "  Sufficient  for 
the  day  is  the  evil  thereof,"  a  caution  against  bearing 
the  burden  of  to-morrow.  Patteson,  in  the  midst  of 
the  flood  of  manifold  duties,  holds  on  to  that  stake  of 


I 


I 


il 


tit 


i< 


St 


r\ 


^  BISHOP  PATTESOy. 

safetv-the  grace  and  constant  presence  of  his  God. 
••  I  hardly  dare  look  forward,"  he  says,  "to  what  rny 
work  may  be  on  earth  ;  i  cannot  see  my  way,  but  I 
feel  sure  that  He  is  ordering  .t  all.  and  I  try  to  look 
on  beyond  the  earth,  where  at  length,  by  God  s  mercy, 

we  may  all  find  rest."  .  .  •     •  » 

His  daily  intercourse  with  the  natives  drew  h.m  into 
deeper  syrnpathy  with  them.  In  teachmg  them  he 
truths  of  Scripture  and  Christian  doctrine  he  found 
them  apt  scholars,  ready  with  questions  which  showed 
their  intelligent  interest  in  the  subject  in  hand. 

His  great  gifts  in  language  made  h.m  very  popular 
among  the  poor  heathen.  He  was  so  thorough  in 
studying  the  niceties  of  the  dialects,  so  patient  m  ac- 
quiring every  chance  word  or  expression  which  migh 
qualify  him  more  completely  for  preaching  wh  effect 
and  success.  When  it  was  known  that  he  "leditated  a 
cruise  among  the  islands,  about  thirty  or  forty  of  the 
natives  gathered  round  him,  begging  him  to  stay. 
<«  We  want>'o»/,  you  speak  so  plainly  we  can  under- 

^^'"no,°I  am  going  to  the  islands  to  the  blacks  there." 
The   Maories   always   speak   of  the   blacks  with  a 

certain  contempt.  .  ui„„i,e  \ " 

"  You  are  wanted  here,  never  mind  the  blacks  I 
"Ought  not  the  Gospel  to  be  preached  to  them  too? 
They  have  no  teacher.     Is  it  not  right  they  should  be 
taught  as  you  have  been  ?  " 

'^Ak  ra  e  tika  ana."     (Yes,  yes,  that  is  right.) 
During  one  of  his  visits  to  the  islands  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood, he  met  with  a  hospitable  reception  from  some 

rather  festive  mourners.  ..  u  v     ^*  ^  lUtlf 

It  was  in  the  Chatham  Islands,  which  he  at  a  little 
distance  from  the  New  Zealand  mainland.  The  occa- 
sion was  a  funeral  feast  of  the  Maories,  the  deceased 
being  an  old  sea-captain,  and  his  widow  a  d»minutive 
Chinese  woman.  When  Patteson  arrived  at  the  place, 
he  found  a  large  cloth  spread  over  the  grass,  and  upon 
it  a  profuse  show  of  native  dainties,  pork,  potatoes,  and 


ST.  JOHN'S  COLLEGE  AND  THE  FIRST  CRUISE.  65 

so  forth.    The  people  welcomed        English  clergyman 
very  heartily,  and  somewhat  en  ised  him  by  their 

insisting  on  his  partaking  of  their  provisions.  How- 
ever, he  seems  to  have  graciously  escaped  these  civili- 
ties, and  immensely  delighted  them  by  shaking  hands 
with  each  in  turn  after  dinner,  an  operation  not  without 
its  disadvantages,  as  the  company  had  dispensed  with 
knives  and  forkt,  in  their  repast  just  concluded.  It  is 
characteristic  of  him,  that  on  leaving  the  place  he  wa^ 
attracted  to  a  decrepit  old  man,  striving  to  get  a  glimpse 
of  the  visitor  from  his  hut.  Patteson  went  back  and 
shook  hands  and  talked  to  the  white-headed  Maori, 
leaving  behind  him  an  impression  of  gratitude  and 
pleasure  which  could  not  fade  for  many  a  day. 

There  was  one  thing  about  Patteson  which  made  the 
natives  greatly  respect  him,  especially  the  young  fellows 
who  were  in  the  college.  This  was  his  readiness  to  do 
anything,  his  ability  to  do  almost  everything,  and  his 
industry  in  being  always  at  it.  It  mattered  not  whether 
the  duty  was  making  a  sermon  or  mending  a  kettle, 
sweeping  a  room,  or  cooking  the  dinner,  nothing  came 
amiss  to  him.  There  was  a  proverb  in  the  Maori 
tongue  with  respect  to  their  white  lords  and  masters, 
"  Gentleman-gentleman  thought  nothing  that  ought  to  be 
done  too  mean  for  him ;  pig-gentleman  never  worked." 
It  is  needless  to  say  that  Patteson  stood  high  in  the 
former  class  of  gentry. 

With  intense  anticipation  he  waited  for  the  approach- 
ing day  when  he  should  sail  with  the  Bishop  to  cruise 
among  the  isles  of  Melanesia. 

That  moment  came  at  last  as  the  month  of  May, 
1856,  came  round.  He  had  reached  his  twenty-ninth 
year,  was  in  capital  health,  and  ready  for  anything. 
The  trim  little  schooner,  Southern  Cross,  waited  for 
them,  and  the  party  went  on  board  on  Ascension  Day, 
the  first  of  that  month.  Bishop  Selwyn  and  his  devoted 
wife,  Mr.  Harper,  a  son  of  the  future  Bishop  of  Lyttel- 
ton,  and  five  men  to  act  as  crew,  formed,  with  Patteson, 
the  party.     They  partool   of  Holy  Communion  in  the 


¥ 


ii 


66 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


-!  ; 


College  chapel  before  starting,  and  their  hearts  were 
buoyant  with  faith  in  God. 

Their  first  experience  was  of  such  a  storm  as  St. 
Paul  met  with  on  his  voyage  in  Adria,  but  providentially, 
in  their  case,  the  good  ship  stood  the  gale.  Patteson 
had  never  seen  the  sea  in  such  magnificent  fury,  and 
as  he  kept  his  footing  on  the  wave-washed  deck,  his 
heart  was  stirred  with  the  sublime  sight. 

Out  of  this  awful  tempest,  however,  they  rode  safely, 
and  the  Southern  Cross  entered  smoother  seas,  bearing 
as  its  precious  freight  the  ambassadors  of  Him,  who 
"  maketh  the  storm  a  calm,  so  that  the  waves  thereof 
are  still."  Fifteen  days  after  their  start  from  Auckland 
they  arrived  at  Norfolk  Island,  the  Bishop  and  Patteson 
rowing  into  Cascade  Bay.  Here  they  leaped  ashore  in 
the  surf,  and  walking  amid  the  rich  and  beautiful 
vegetation  of  the  tropics,  met  with  a  man,  a  convict, 
who  had  been  left  behind  with  eleven  others  when  the 
prison  establishment  had  been  broken  up.  The  Pit- 
cairners  had  not  yet  arrived  at  their  new  abode. 
Embarking  once  more,  they  had  a  fair  passage  to 
Sydney,  into  which  harbour  they  entered  on  the  loth 
of  June,  and  were  heartily  welcomed. 

Patteson  had  said  in  one  of  his  letters,  written  on 
board  to  his  sister,  how  much  he  missed  the  services  of 
the  English  places  of  worship.  With  all  the  glorious 
luxuriance  of  natural  beauty  which  crowns  these  islands, 
his  thoughts  looked  back  wistfully  to  the  association  of 
sacred  occasions  and  scenes  at  home,  never  to  be  for- 
gotten. "  One  often  loses  the  spirit,"  says  he,  "  when 
the  form  is  withdrawn,  and  I  still  sorely  long  for  the 
worship  of  God  in  the  beauty  of  holiness,  and  my  mind 
reverts  to  Ottery  Church,  and  College  chapels,  and 
vast  glorious  cathedrals."  The  sight  of  Sydney  with 
its  churches  upon  the  eye  of  one  "who  for  fourteen 
months  had  scarcely  seen  anything  but  a  small  wooden 
church,"  was  refreshing  indeed.  In  a  letter  to  his 
little  correspondent,  "darling  Pena,"  he  tells  of  the 
beauty  of  the  flowers,  the  magnificent  trees,  and  how 


Si 


ST.  JOHirS  COLLEGE  AND  THE  FIRST  CRUISE.  67 

glad  he  was  to  see  this  fine  harbour  of  Sydney,  while 
to  his  sister  he  expressed  the  fulness  of  his  joy  in  the 
enjoyment  of  a  real  English  Sunday  ashore. 

During  the  stay  of  the  Southern  Cross  a  large  and 
influential  missionary  meeting  was  called  in  Sydney, 
summoned  by  the  Australian  Board  to  consider  the 
pressing  question  of  the  extension  of  its  work  in  the 
islands  of  Melanesia.  The  Bishops  of  Sydney,  New- 
castle, and  New  Zealand  spoke  eloquently  on  the  call 
to  labour  which  so  unmistakably  appealed  to  the 
Christians,  and  Patteson,  who  was  introduced  to  the 
meeting  by  Bishop  Selwyn  in  terms  full  of  genuine 
feeling,  had  his  word  to  say  for  the  work  to  which  he 
had  now  resolutely  set  his  hand. 

In  tracing  the  missionary  journeys  of  this  vessel  of 
peace,  it  is  delightful   to   mark  the  brotherhood   and 
charity  with  which  the  Bishop  and   Patteson  greeted 
those  who,  already  labouring  for  the  same  Master,  were 
attached  to  other  branches  of  His  Church  on  earth. 
Selwyn  ..nd  his  faithful  coadjutor  were  of  one  heart 
and  mind  in  this,  that  wherever  the  work  was  being 
done   they  would   never   intrude   themselves,   visiting 
such  places  only   to  wish  their  brethren   Godspeed, 
and  passing   on    to   the   yet   untouched  fields,  where 
the  dark  and  evil  harvest  of  sin  and  ignorance  waited 
the  golden  sickle  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.     While  the 
Church  at  home  was  being  torn  with  violent  controver- 
sies, the  echoes  of  this  clamour  scarcely  reached  their 
ears ;  faced  by  a  common  foe,  their  faith  and  patience 
tested  everywhere  by  a  like  experience,  these  standard- 
bearers  of  the  Cross  were  drawn  together  by  a  loving 
sympathy,  and  in  their  struggle  knew  none  other  name 
under  heaven  but  Christ  and  Him  crucified. 

When  the  Southern  Cross  reached  Aneityum  in  July 
It  was  to  visit  the  excellent  work  which  two  noble 
missionaries,  Messrs.  Geddie  and  Inglis,  had  carried 
on  for  some  years  under  the  auspices  of  the  Scottish 
Presbyterian  Missionary  Society.  So  successful  had 
they  been,  that  out  of  a  population  of  four  thousand 


•I 


68 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


-  Sif 


natives,  only  three  hundred  could  be  counted  as  remain- 
ing in  heathenism.  Mr.  Geddie  was  absent  at  another 
island  just  then,  but  the  canoes  which  came  to  welcome 
the  ship  brought  a  Tahitian  native  teacher,  a  Futuma 
man,  and  several  Christian  natives.  While  Patteson 
was  being  rowed  to  land  by  these  individuals  he  was 
immensely  entertained  by  the  peculiarity  of  costume 
which  they  affected.  The  Futuma  gentleman  had 
apparently  bestowed  upon  his  hair  an  undivided  atten- 
tion ;  frizzed  and  curled  like  a  poodle's  coat,  it  was 
trained  to  stand  up  for  several  inches  above  his  head 
by  the  aid  of  a  plaster  of  coral-lime  and  fibre  bands. 
The  total  absence  of  any  other  adornment  in  the  shape 
of  raiment  showed  how  thoroughly  this  dark-skinned 
Beau  Brummel  was  a  man  of  one  idea.  The  neat 
and  attractive  appearance  of  the  Mission  residence, 
the  boarding-houses  established  for  young  men  and 
women,  the  excellent  school-work  in  progress,  and 
the  intense  affection  expressed  by  the  natives  for  the 
missionaries,  all  greatly  encouraged  the  visitors. 

Bidding  their  friends  farewell,  the  ship  sailed  again, 
passing  Erromanga,  the  scene  of  the  martyrdom  of 
John  Williams,  and  arrived  at  Fatd — an  island  of  very 
evil  repute,  as  the  natives  were  cannibals,  and  had 
already  murdered  their  Samoan  teachers.  Landing 
here  was  out  of  the  question,  but  from  the  canoes 
which  surrounded  the  ship  they  took  two  fellows  to 
accompany  them  on  their  cruise.  Referring  to  these 
visitors,  Patteson  writes  home,  speaking  of  them  as 
"Alsoff,  a  man  of  perhaps  forty-five,  and  Mospa,  a 
very  intelligent  young  man,  from  whom  I  am  picking 
up  words  as  fast  as  I  can.  F.  would  have  laughed 
to  have  seen  me  rigging  them  out  in  calico  shirts, 
buttoning  them  up.  Mospa  gave  me  his  wooden 
comb,  which  they  push  through  their  hair  as  you 
ladies  do  coral  or  gold  pins  at  parties.  Another  fellow, 
whose  head  was  elaborately  frizzed  and  plastered  with 
coral-lime,  departed  with  one  of  my  common  calico 
pocket-handkerchiefs  v\ith  my  name  in  Joan's  marking. 


O 

s 

i 

< 


en 

o 


III 


I 


70 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


'■A- 


III 


II 


S 


This  is  to  adorn  his  head,  and  for  aught  I  know  is  the 
first,  and  certainly  the  best,  specimen  of  handwriting 
in  the  island." 

Shortly  afterwards  they  came  in  sight  of  the  magni- 
ficent range  of  mountains  which  rise  four  thousand 
feet  on  the  Island  of  San  Spirito.  The  aspect  of  these 
beautif".  tropical  gems  of  the  ocean  greatly  pleased 
the  eye  of  the  new  missionary.  He  tells  us  how  the 
waters  were  limpid  with  a  crystalline  clearness,  and 
that  on  the  land  the  flowers  were  radiant  in  the  sun- 
light. In  the  shallows  ran  and  played  a  crowd  of 
children,  romping  just  as  their  little  white  brothers 
and  sisters  do  at  home,  and  evidently  knowing  nothing 
of  the  fear  and  distrust  which  had  been  engendered 
in  the  minds  of  their  elders.  They  came  round  him 
affectionately,  and  were  full  of  curiosity  to  examine 
the  pockets  of  his  coat,  and  note  in  his  various 
garments  what  was  to  them  the  appearance  of  suc- 
cessive skins. 

The  women  here  do  all  the  work,  but  this  is  not 
much,  for  the  food  of  the  people  grows  within  reach 
of  their  hands,  plenty  of  yams  and  cocoanuts  being 
provided  by  Nature  with  very  little,  if  any,  cultivation. 
The  men  spend  their  time  when  not  at  war  in  lying 
on  the  warm  coral,  enjoying  the  sunshine  and  the 
wafted  airs  from  the  blue  sea,  a  life  of  natural  idleness 
and  inertia  which  proves  a  stumbling-block  in  the 
lives  of  young  converts  to  Christianity.  The  cottages 
on  this  island  are  of  a  very  primitive  pattern,  made 
of  cocoanut  fibre  and  leaves  by  way  of  thatch,  and 
perfectly  open  at  either  end.  Patteson  noticed  a 
curious  method  these  people  employ  in  procuring  water 
for  their  use.  They  slice  a  number  of  bamboo  canes 
and  join  them  together,  so  making  a  long  channel, 
which  is  supported  at  intervals  by  uprights,  and 
conducts  the  water  for  miles  from  the  hills  beyond. 
He  tasted  this  water,  and  found  it  very  cool  and 
refreshing,  and  observed  that  they  also  utilise  the 
bamboo  sfll  further  by  stopping  up  one  end  of  its  long 


ST.  JOHN'S  COLLEGE  AND  THE  FIRST  CRUISE.  71 

tubular  cane,  and  filling  this  like  a  bottle  to  carry  into 
the  village. 

There  is  a  wild  beauty  everywhere,  and  nothing  is 
wanting  to  perfect  the  picture  of  these  island  glories. 
They  form  a  galaxy  of  glorious  stars  in  the  firma- 
ment of  the  azure  sea.  Amid  their  wealth  of  gleaming 
colour  and  flashing  life  it  seems  almost  inconceivable 
that  behind  the  screen  of  this  beauty  there  lurks  the 
darkest  crime  and  all  the  ©lurc'erous  cruelty  of  the 
savage  heart.  To  Patteson,  whose  mind  was  quick 
to  appreciate  the  artistic  beauty  of  such  a  scene,  the 
glow  of  pleasure  which  flushed  him  would  pale  down 
as  the  stern  reality  of  the  shadow,  the  crouching  sin- 
fiend,  demanded  the  utmost  heroism  of  his  soul. 

But  of  the  loveliness  which  met  his  gaze  he  gives 
us  living  pictures,  and  this  chapter  shall  close  with  a 
delicious  little  sketch  of  San  Christoval, — 

"  Oh  the  beauty  of  the  deep  clefts  within  coral  reefs, 
lined  with  coral — blue,  purple,  scarlet,  green,  and 
white  !  The  little  blue  fishes,  the  bright  blue  starfish, 
the  white  land-crabs  walking  away  with  other  people's 
shells  1  But  who  can  show  you  the  bright  line  of 
surf  breaking  the  blue  of  this  truly  pacific  ocean,  and 
the  tropical  sun  piercing  the  masses  of  foliage  which 
nothing  less  dazzling  could  penetrate?  How  lovely 
it  was !  There  were  the  coral  crags,  the  masses  of 
forest  trees,  the  creepers,  literally  hundreds  of  yards 
long,  crawling  along  and  hanging  from  the  cliffs,  the 
bananas  and  palms,  the  dark  figures  on  the  edge  of 
the  rocks  looking  down  upon  us  from  among  the  trees, 
the  people  assembling  on  the  bright  beach — coral  dust 
it  may  be  called,  for  it  was  as  fine  as  sand — cottages 
among  the  trees,  and  a  \  ond  of  fresh  water  close  beside 
them,  winding  away  round  the  cliff"  till  hidden  by  a 
bank  of  wood." 


3 


CHAPTER    V. 


now   THE   HEATHEN    HEART   WAS   WON. 


li 


" '  The  Name  that  is  above  every  name, 
Hath  still  its  mighty  power  to  save, 
Gleams  through  our  life  its  living  flame, 
And  flings  its  radiance  o'er  the  grave. 
Fulfil  the  promise  of  Thy  word, 
'  Thy  kingdom  come,'  O  Christ  our  Lord." 

AMID  the  wild  solitudes  of  the  Dark  Continent 
Livingstone  found  that  the  white  man  in  the 
guise  of  the  Arab  slave-trader  had  preceded 
him,  and  step  by  step  the  intrepid  explorer  had 
to  battle  with  this  natural  enemy  of  the  coloured  race. 
It  was  this  vile  traffic  which  blighted  those  African 
villages,  and  forced  from  this  noble  heart  the  dying 
prayer  that  others  might  help  "  to  heal  this  open  sore 
of  the  world." 

In  like  manner  Patteson  was  forestalled  by  the 
same  vicious  influence,  and  eventually  paid  the  forfeit 
of  his  life  in  his  endeavours,  in  his  Master's  name,  to 
win  the  wronged  confidence  of  the  Melanesian. 

His  first  acquaintance  with  the  traffic  was  when 
gliding  through  the  gleaming  waters  off  the  coast  of 


rroW  THE  HEATHEN  HEART  IVAS  WON.   73 


Espiritu  Santo,  the  Southern  Cross  sighted  another 
vessel  at  anchor  off  the  shore.  This  brig  was  no 
Mission  ship  with  its  messengers  of  peace  and  good- 
will, but  commanded  by  a  notorious  villain  who  had 
already  carried  desolation  enough  into  these  scenes. 
His  career  of  kidnapping  had  aroused  in  the  deceived 
islanders  many  attempts  at  reprisals,  which  in  each 
case  he  met  with  cruel  revenge.  Patteson  affirms 
that  at  Nengond  this  man  shot  three  natives  who 
swam  to  his  ship,  and  at  Mallicolo  killed  eight  others. 
Fortunately,  for  these  crimes  he  had  been  brought  to 
justice  and  tried  for  his  life  at  Sydney,  and  now  on 
his  good  behaviour  was  resuming  his  work  as  a  sandal- 
wood trader  in  the  district.  The  presence  of  Patteson 
doubtless  had  its  effect  in  restricting  the  outrages  of 
this  and  other  scoundrels  who  disgraced  the  English 
name,  but  subsequent  events  showed  that  this  snake 
in  the  grass  of  this  Mission  field  was  scotched,  not 
killed. 

The  distrust  engendered  among  the  natives  made  the 
visits  of  the  missionaries  to  these  islands  very  perilous. 
As  an  instance  of  this  they  had  a  narrow  escape  in 
touching  at  the  isle  of  Bellona.  The  reef  prevented 
their  boat  coming  near  to  the  land,  so  the  Bishop  and 
Patteson,  throwing  off  their  coats,  took  a  header  and 
swam  to  the  shore,  carrying  axes  and  adzes  as  presents 
in  their  hands.  At  first  the  beach  seemed  quite  de- 
serted ;  some  really  beautiful  canoes,  however,  showed 
the  intelligence  of  the  people.  About  to  place  their  gifts 
in  these  canoes  and  return,  they  suddenly  saw  some 
men  watching  them,  and  to  these  Patteson  walked 
with  friendly  confidence.  Then  came  the  usual  but 
not  very  congenial  Maori  salutations,  the  rubbing  of 
noses  and  pleasant  greetings.  A  chief  armed  with  a 
spear  was  now  amongst  them,  and  Patteson  says, 
"  I  had  my  straw  hat  fastened  by  a  ribbon  which  my 
friend  coveted,  so  I  let  him  take  it,  which  he  did  by 
putting  his  adze  (my  gift)  against  it,  close  to  my  ear, 
and  cutting  it  off — not  the  least  occasion  to  be  afraid 


74 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


\i 


'■    \- 


of  them."  But  the  Bishop,  with  his  quick  eye,  saw 
danger  lurking  in  the  manner  of  the  men,  and  whispered 
to  Patteson  to  be  on  the  alert,  "We  are  not  on  the 
beach  at  Sidmouth."  And  yet  with  these  people,  as 
with  those  bereft  of  reason  at  home,  a  sign  of  fear 
means  weakness  and  loss  of  control,  so  the  missionaries 
had  to  present  a  firm  and  confident  demeanour  while 
inwardly  recognising  the  gravity  of  their  position. 
Reaching  the  water  again  at  last  they  plunged  in  and 
swam  for  their  lives  to  the  boat,  on  gaining  which, 
like  very  schoolboys,  they  dived  under  its  keel  and 
splashed  about  the  warm  waves  with  relish  and  satis- 
faction. 

When  they  landed  at  Bauro  their  reception  was 
more  pleasant ;  here,  at  one  of  the  villages,  they  met 
with  an  old  chief,  whose  acquaintance  Bishop  Selwyn 
had  made  on  one  of  his  previous  voyages.  After 
visiting  the  native  boat-building  establishment,  they 
were  conducted  to  the  council-chamber  of  the  chief. 
Here  a  startling  sight  presented  itself,  for  hanging  from 
the  roof  of  the  long  hut  were  a  large  number  of  human 
skulls,  many  of  them  black  with  the  smoke  fumes, 
and  others  from  their  whiteness  evidently  but  newly 
added  to  the  display.  The  chief  and  his  people 
crowded  into  the  place,  and  then,  amid  these  dreadful 
testimonies  of  the  brutality  A  heathen  darkness.  Bishop 
Selwyn  brought  out  a  book  in  their  language  and 
preached  to  them  on  the  sinfulness  of  cruel  war,  and 
how  the  great  God  loved  them,  and  would  have  them 
abandon  such  awful  customs.  A  strange  but  fitting 
place  for  such  a  sermon;  and  while  these  poor  ignorant 
fellows  listened  to  the  words  of  good  news,  the  two 
Englishmen  were  profoundly  impressed  with  the 
scene. 

When  they  left,  five  native  boys  returned  with  them 
tO  the  ship ;  and  the  chief,  as  a  mark  of  special  favour, 
waded  through  the  surf  up  to  his  waist  to  bid  them 
adieu.  Their  pleasure,  however,  was  a  little  dashed 
with  disappointment  on  finding  that  a  former  convert, 


■|      :' 


10 


^ 


m^ 


'*l?>wi,^TJr 


Trtut 


will* 

Yaaabtl  I. 
^i-N    "Cower/        Stemisrt  I 
^    ^      Malanta  I. 


CuBda 
Htm  CwMtA 


Belloi  •  / 


.XO- 


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o 


o 

o 


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eanar 


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Cult  I  ••DulTlf 

Sif^;Slm$toi/af  BMuht  tu 

-9?/ 


^ff«n/l« 


//. 


rorr»alt.^  Bl'f 

l/anua  Lara  ^ 
Santa  marU     o    !*"/i,^^ 


,,      %    c^r^bryfn 
ilhcolle  p,  ,„„^ 

f'SindimfS!^  S  ^ephtrd  I 
Kavanna'h  '^  So\,d0,ch  I. 


Huon  If 
0. 


Harbour  1^1^*1 

Dillon  Bay  t)  Erromanga. 


Jatual 

o 


■*  Tucopia 
Bavhs  If 


o 


Tanna  ^ 


,;,«r«^%. 


■JVcw 
Caledonia 


Bishop  J*^    ^->-^ 


Mare 


I  of  Pines 
0 


/Iforfij/A  / 
Nepe9ul.<'^^Pf,il,pl 


'  Niua 
*Futuma 


'  AntitU « 


MaHht>¥  I 
o 
Q  fffttrnl 

Walpokl 


2.1 


HAP  OF  MELANESIA. 


76 


DIUHOP  PATTESON. 


% 


by  name  Diddimang,  had  lapsed  into  his  old  way? 
again. 

The  Southern  Cross  reached  Guadalcanar  or  Gera, 
and  immediately  a  number  of  natives  leaped  into  the 
sea  and  swam  towards  it,  bringing  yams  and  other 
produce  for  barter  in  their  hands.  The  absence  of 
arms  showed  that  their  intentions  were  fn;ndly,  and 
a  number  of  them  were  allowed  to  come  on  deck. 
They  seemed  to  have  been  a  rather  aristocratic  race, 
and  were  adorned  with  fantastic  arrangements  of  shells, 
frontlets,  girdles,  bracelets  extending  far  up  the  arm  ; 
and  although  not  tattooed  like  the  other  islanders, 
they  had  branded  their  skin  in  a  peculiar  fashion. 
Their  noses,  as  usual,  came  in  for  much  elaborate 
decoration,  small  skewers  of  wood  being  thrust  therein, 
and  sticking  out  on  either  side  like  the  whiskers  of  a 
cat.  The  mother-of-pearl  which  abounds  in  the  district 
hung  about  them  in  the  shape  of  nose-rings  of  various 
dimensions.  Fortunately  the  boys  from  Bauro  could 
talk  a  little  to  these  fellows,  and  two  young  men  were 
persuaded  to  remain  with  the  ship. 

The  Solomon  Islands  Group,  which  next  claimed  the 
missionaries'  attention,  is  associated  with  Spanish  his- 
tory of  three  centuries  ago.  Alvaro  de  Mendana  had, 
in  the  course  of  a  cruise  of  discovery  in  1567,  lighted 
upon  these  isles,  and  after  some  conflict  with  the 
natives  began  to  establish  a  colony  on  Santa  Cruz. 
Difficulties,  however,  scon  arose,  the  old  chief  Malope 
was  murdered  by  the  Spaniards,  the  leader  of  the  ex- 
pedition soon  followed  ;  and  finally  his  wife  with  what 
was  left  of  the  colonists  departed.  Certainly  the 
scenery  of  this  island  is  grand  enough  to  tempt  any 
to  brave  the  savage  character  of  its  denizens.  Its 
magnificent  volcano,  the  actual  cone  being  alone  visible, 
towering  2,000  feet  high,  pours  forth  a  constant  stream 
of  molten  lava. 

An  intense  and  melancholy  interest  attaches  to  the 
visit  the  party  next  made  to  the  island  of  Nukapu, 
where  the  people  came  crowding  in  their  canoes  with 


li 


IWW  THE  HEATHEN  JIEaHP  JrAS   P^OAT.   77 

apparent  friendliness.  Patteson  does  not  appear  to 
have  landed  on  this  occasion.  The  next  time  he 
crossed  that  coral  reef  it  was  to  die.  So  in  that 
ignorance  of  to-morrow  our  eyes  are  holden  by  His 
mfinite  mercy,  and  the  faithful  servant  who  sees 
only  his  working-place,  little  dreams  that  there  he 
will  one  d  y  tind  the  threshold  of  everlasting  rest  and 
peace. 

Patteson  showed  an  eager  readiness  to  approach 
these  doubtful  natives,  swimming  ashore  from  the 
boat  and  fraternising  with  them,  using  abundant  ges- 
ture where  he  found  words  not  understood.  The 
wisuoni  and  carefulness  of  his  companion  the  Bishop, 
however,  were  constantly  required  ;  and  on  one  occasion 
when  he  had  been  hastily  recalled  by  some  unseen 
danger,  he  was  warned  that,  unknown  to  him,  many 
of  the  younger  natives  were  hiding  in  the  bush  with 
their  arms  prepared  to  shoot.  In  several  cases  as 
they  touched  at  these  islands  they  became  aware  of 
visits  from  Europeans  many  years  before — shipwrecked 
crews  never  since  heard  of,  and  discoverers  perishing 
on  those  unknown  shores.  Nearly  a  hundred  years 
before  two  French  vessels  had,  during  a  tour  of  obser- 
vation in  the  Pacific,  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
Samoan  natives,  at  that  time  untouched  by  the  bless- 
ings of  Christian  teaching.  The  crews  were  supposed 
to  be  all  massacred.  It  afterwards  transpired,  how- 
ever, that  the  vessels  were  wrecked  on  the  reef,  and 
many  who  escaped  the  arrows  of  the  natives  were 
devoured  by  the  sharks  which  abound  in  the  si.  .'lows. 
Others  appear  to  have  entrenched  themselves  for  a 
while,  but  of  their  fate  not  a  trace  was  ever  afterwards 
heard. 

On  this  gruesome  shore  the  Bishop  and  Patteson 
landed,  but  saw  no  human  creature.  Walking  a  little 
further  into  the  interior  they  were  horrified  to  discover 
undoubted  evidences  of  cannibalism,  and  this  first  in- 
troduction of  Patteson  to  the  most  awful  phase  of 
heathenism   greatly  impressed   him.      A  half-hearted 


fS  BISHOP  PATTESON. 

worker,  in  whom  there  is  not  the  stamp  of  a  genuine 
missionary,  would,  in  face  of  such  abominations,  find 
some  excuse  for  at  any  rate  limiting  his  endeavours  to 
more  agreeable  surroundings;  but  with  a  heart  like 
Patleson's,  beating  high  with  the  real  heroic  spirit,  the 
denser  the  darkness  and  the  deeper  the  difficulty  the 
more  he  felt  urged  to  fearless  zeal.  For  himself  he 
cared  nothing,  as  no  true  servant  of  God  ought  or 
need  ;  he  had  given  his  life  to  the  work,  and,  like  his 
Master,  he  felt  straitened  until  it  was  accomplished. 

The  Southern  Cross  passed  on,  and  arrived  at  last 
at  NengonO,  at  the  beginning  of  September.     On  this 
island   the   Melanesian   Mission   had  already  made  a 
beginning  of  settled  work.     Mr.  Nihill,  a  valued  clergy- 
man, after  living  on  the  island  two  years  with  his  wife 
had  passed  away  in  the  midst  of  his  labours,  and  Mrs' 
Nihill  returned   to   New  Zealand.      The   people   had 
become  deeply  attached  to  thfir  missionary,  and  the 
native  teachers  whom  he  had  instructed  in  the  doc- 
trines of  the  faith  were  bravely  carrying  on  the  work 
still.      When    the   Southern    Cross  came   in    sight    it 
caused  great  joy  on   shore;   and    Mark,   a   baptised 
teacher,  lost  no  time  in  coming  on  board  to  welcome 
the  Bishop  and  his  party.     When  they  landed,  taking 
the  two  Bauro  boys  with  them,  they  found  the  converts 
and  teachers  all  assembled   before   the   house  where 
Mr.  Nihill  died,  to  receive  them.     The  Mission  build- 
ings, Its  httle  church  made  of  coral-lime,  the  draped 
bodies  of  the  natives,  above  all  the  pure  happiness 
which  shone  in  their  faces,  all  gladdened  the  heart 
of  the  visitors   after  what  they  had  witnessed  else- 
\vhere,  and  was  evidence  of  the  change  wrought  by 
the  touch  of  the  hand  of  Him,  who  causeth  old  things 
to  pass  away  and  all  things  to  become  new  in  the 
heart  and  life  of  sinful  man. 

Before  they  departed  an  impressive  and  tender  in- 
cident took  place.  Bishop  Selwyn  had  brought  from 
Auckland  a  memorial  cross  to  place  over  the  grave 
of  his  devoted  fellow-helper,  and  in  the  presence  of  a 


HOW  THE  HEATHEN  HEART  WAS   WON.   79 

muUitude,  moved  with  simple  and  loving  regret,  he 
erected  the  sacred  emblem.  Upon  it,  in  their  own 
language,  was  written  the  immortal  words,  "  I  am  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life," 

Returning  to  Norfolk  Island  they  had  an  opportunity 
for  some  rest;  Patteson  employing  it  in  part  in  writing 
letters  to  his  relatives  at  home.  To  his  brother  he 
gives  a  full  accc  ut  of  the  voyage,  and,  speaking  of 
the   character    ot    ,Kcse   isI-nHers,   says,    "They   are 


generally  genfi  ,  :.,  -i 
the   very   imoj'  n-'ent 


r»-  /( ;vi'.   ill. it  i  . 
;.na  i-u  1,,  1.    ,?  fc-. 


ri> 


I. 


ng  to  one,  not  with 

f  New   Zealanders, 

of  the  child  of  the 

ae  word  for  them. 

minutes  after  land- 


Mi 


I'ic'iiu  their  hands  in  mine 
\Mth   its   nurse."     This  shows 
-^r.  lli^r   light;    how,   beyond 


but  with  tb.  so. 
tropics.     Ih^ 
I  have  hac'  h>y. 
ing,  follo'    iiir  li'  •  ,4 
as  a  little   -hud    <\v 
these   poor   iuaihc  1. 

their  cruel   rites>    n    i   nilu  fer -city"  they  had   hearts 
to  be  touched  witl.         feMow-ieeling  which  links  the 
brotherhood  of  men,  and  were  ready  to  receive  tidings 
of  the  compassion  of  a  Saviour.     To  Patteson  these 
dusky  figures  moving  in  crowds  on  their  coral  shores 
were  so  many  men;  "savages"  he  would  never  allow 
them  to  be  called.     After  recounting  the  incidents  of 
this  his  first  voyage,  after   visiting  sixty-six  islands, 
and   landing  eighty-one   times,  he   assures   us,    "All 
were   most   friendly  and  delightful,  only  two  arrows 
have  been  shot  at  us,  and  only  one  coming  near— so 
much  for  savages.     I  wonder  what  people  ought  to  call 
sandal-wood  traders  and  slave-masters  if  they  call  my 
Alelanesians  savages?"  he  asks  with  a  touch  of  in- 
dignation.     Patteson,   in   common   wi       Gordon   and 
Livingstone,   had    that   "enthusiasm       r    humanity" 
which  sees  and  loves  the  good  in  the  most  despised. 
It  is  simply  the  spirit  of  Him  who  came  into  the  world 
"to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost." 

Patteson  made  up  his  mind  that  these  poor  fellows 
should  trust  him.  He  knew  no  fear,  and  took  every 
occasion  to  put  himself  frankly  in  their  power,  while 


i 


|i 


8o 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


chasing  away  all  their  anger  with  that  good-natured 
and  assuring  smile  of  his.  When  at  Gera,  he  landed 
amongst  a  crowd  of  suspicious  natives,  and  walked 
inland  in  the  midst  of  them,  then  passed  the  night  in 
a  hut  where  a  score  of  them  lay,  and  the  experiment 
seems  to  have  been  crowned  with  the  success  its  courage 
deserved.  They  treated  him  kindly;  and  we  can 
imagine  that  in  the  darkness  of  that  night,  surrounded 
by  strange  companions,  Patteson  had  words  of  a 
gracious  message  to  deliver  from  One  who  sought 
their  confidence  with  a  love  far  higher  than  his  own. 

He  was  resolute  in  keeping  his  undivided  interest 
in  the  work.  Thoughts  of  home  and  the  sweet  asso- 
ciations there  must  not  tempt  his  heart  away  from 
the  stern  realities  before  him.  Of  course  he  does  not 
forget  them ;  writing  to  his  sister  on  her  birthday,  he 
says,  "  I  think  of  all  your  daily  occupations — school, 
garden,  driving,  etc. — your  Sunday  reading,  visiting 
the  cottages,  etc.,  and  the  very  thought  of  it  makes 
me  feel  like  old  times.  When  occasionally  I  dream, 
or  fall  into  a  kind  of  trance  when  awake,  and  fancy 
myself  walking  up  from  the  lodge  to  the  house,  and 
old  forms  and  faces  rise  up  before  me,  I  can  scarcely 
contain  the  burst  of  joy  and  happiness,  and  then  I  give 
a  shake  and  say,  '  Well,  it  would  be  very  nice ;  but 
look  about  the  horizon  and  see  how  many  islands  you 
can  count ! '  and  then,  instead  of  thoughts  of  home  for 
myself,  I  am  tempted  to  induce  others  to  leave  their 
homes,  though  I  really  don't  think  many  men  have  such 
a  home  to  leave,  or  remain  so  long  as  I  did — one  of  the 
home  fireside." 

Thus  ends  his  first  voyage,  full  of  meaning  to  him, 
enriching  him  with  experience,  inflaming  him  with 
an  increasing  devotedness  to  the  work.  He  was  not 
in  such  good  health  as  when  he  started ;  an  inflamed 
leg  had  given  him  much  uneasiness,  and  he  was  glad 
to  return  to  St.  John's  College,  at  Auckland,  with  his 
new  consignment  of  native  youths  to  train  and  teach 
for  Christ.      The  letters  which  awaited  him  were  a 


HOW  THE  HEATHEN  HEART  IVAS   WON.    8i 


glad  surprise  to  him.  Great  was  his  delight  to  be 
back  amongst  his  old  pupils  once  more.  Then  the 
new  consignment  of  young  natives  called  for  unremit- 
ting attention,  in  training  them  in  Christian  doctrines 
and  civilised  habits,  and  not  less  in  acquiring  the 
various  languages  which  they  represented.  His  pride 
in  and  affection  for  these  Melanesian  lads  was  un- 
stinted :  "  I  would  not  exchange  my  position  with 
these  lads  and  young  men  for  anything.  I  wish  you 
could  see  them  and  know  them ;  I  don't  think  you 
ever  had  pupils  that  could  win  their  way  into  your 
heart  more  effectually  than  these  fellows  have  attached 
themselves  to  me."  These  words  he  wrote  to  his 
uncle,  the  master  at  Eton ;  and  they  speak  his  heart. 
In  his  teaching,  Patteson  finds,  as  is  generally  the  case, 
a  special  pleasure  in  leading  the  thoughts  of  these 
young  disciples  through  the  Lord's  Prayer.  He  tells 
us  how  solemn  and  touching  it  was  to  see  these  boys 
kneeling  around  him,  and  repeating  the  words,  "  Our 
Father,  which  art  in  heaven;"  not,  perhaps,  under- 
standing it  all  fully,  but  quite  as  much,  possibly,  as  the 
average  Christian  at  home.  He  is  almost  as  watchful 
over  their  physical  as  of  their  spiritual  interests.  The 
climate  tried  them  terribly ;  and  Patteson  gives  up  his 
own  bed  to  the  use  of  these  shivering  and  fever-stricken 
boys,  and  is  night  and  day  watching  and  tending  them. 
He  is  charmed  with  their  patient  suffeiing,  and  cheered 
by  the  unfeigned  gratitude  they  express. 

Perhaps  the  only  thing  which  tries  his  patience  is 
the  words  of  praise  which  from  time  to  time  reach 
his  ears  from  the  outside.  He  cannot  be  persuaded 
to  believe  that  he  is  either  a  great  or  good  man.  He 
says  he  *'  can't  bear  the  things  Sophy  said  in  one  of 
her  letters  abviut  my  having  given  up,  etc.  It  seems 
mock  humility  to  write  it,  but,  dear  uncle,  if  /  am 
conscious  of  a  life  so  utterly  unlike  what  all  you  dear 
ones  fancy  it  to  be,  what  must  it  be  in  the  sight  of 
God  and  His  holy  angels  ?  " 

When  General  Gordon   entered  the  desert  on  his 


i 


8a 


niSTIOP  PATTESOX. 


last  journey,  he  begged  for  prayers  at  home  on  his 
behalf;  and  Patteson,  in  all  his  letters  as  he  moves 
onward  in  this  grand  work,  to  which  he  had  given 
himself  wholly,  asks  all  who  love  him  to  pray  that  he 
may  have  grace  and  strength  for  this  undertaking. 

His  missionary  journeyings  over  for  the  present, 
Patteson  settled  down  to  mould  and  inspire  the  minds 
of  his  young  pupils  at  the  College  of  St.  John's,  Auck- 
land. He  was  himself  so  thoroughly  in  earnest  that 
his  spirit  was  unconsciously  diffused  among  those  poor 
islanders.  To  them  he  was  a  father,  a  friend,  an 
adviser,  a  playmate,  a  great  heart  embracing  theirs,  a 
strong  will  leading  them  forward  and  upwarrl  every 
day.  He  had  them  up  when  the  day  began  lo  dawn 
over  the  sea,  and  as  early  as  half-past  seven  they 
were  gathered  in  the  little  chapel  for  morning  worship. 
Then,  after  breakfast,  came  the  domestic  work— clean- 
ing, sweeping,  making  beds,  and  so  forth— in  which, 
as° usual,  Patteson  never  failed  to  do  the  duty  fust 
himself,  so  that  none  of  these  lads  should  fancy  any- 
thing beneath  them.  After  tlieir  studies,  they  all 
dined  together  in  the  orthodox  college  fashion,  and 
the  afternoon  brought  healthy  recreation  and  activity. 
Patteson  taught  them  cricket;  but  we  have  not  any 
record  of  remarkable  scores  made  by  these  colts  of 
Melanesia.  Besides  this,  however,  other  occupations 
of  a  more  useful  character,  such  as  printing,  weaving, 
and  so  on,  ^eld  their  attention.  Many  naturally  pre- 
ferred at  times  to  lie  in  the  sunshine  and  recall  as 
day-dreams  the  plashing  of  the  warm  waves  on  the 
coral  reefs  in  the  balmy  atmosphere  of  their  native 

home. 

They  seem  to  have  shown  a  marvellous  eagerness 
for  knowledge,  and  labouring  like  the  smallest  English 
children  at  the  mysteries  of  the  alphabet,  they  made 
their  studies  such  a  merry  and  enjoyable  exercise 
that  anything  like  it  would  be  an  uncommonly  rare 
spectacle  in  the  schools  at  home. 

Of  course  in  all  this  there  was  the  controlling  idea 


now  THE  HEATHEN  HEART  WAS   WON.    83 

of  making  from  this  plastic  and  virgin  material  native 
missionaries  for  future  work.  It  was  therefore  essen- 
tial that  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith  should 
be  engrafted  in  their  opening  minds.  Patteson  could 
not  bring  himself  to  consider  the  poor  unenlightened 
heathen  as  under  special  condemnation,  rather  he  re- 
joiced in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God,  fulfilled  in  them 
when  the  light  of  the  Gospel  shall  shine  in  their  hearts. 
He  gladly  recognised  whatever  was  good  in  them,  their 
clinging,  affectionate  nature,  the  yearning  for  love  and 
leading,  the  good  impulses  which  underlay  their  wild 
and  cruel  nature.  He  was  a  believer  in  the  love  of 
God. 

The  youths  from  Nengon^,  who  had  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  Mr.  Nihill's  previous  instruction,  were  very 
promising,  and  on  one  occasion  said  to  Patteson, — 

"  Sir,  may  we  stay  with  you  always  ?  We  see  this 
teaching  is  right ;  may  we  be  always  with  you  at  Nor- 
folk Island  or  here?  By-and-by  we  might  be  able 
to  teach  some  other  people." 

There  is  a  beautiful  simplicity  in  the  utterances  of 
these  youths.  One,  Howine,  a  lad  of  seventeen,  on 
one  occasion  wrote  the  following  prayer,  entirely  of 
his  own  accord, — 

"O  God,  Thou  strengthenest  us,  Thou  lovest  us. 
We  have  come  from  a  distant  land,  and  no  evil  has 
happened  to  us,  for  Thou  lovest  us.  Thou  hast  pro- 
vided us  with  a  Missionary  to  live  here  with  us.  Give 
us  strength  from  Thee  every  day.  We  are  men  who 
have  done  evil  before  Thee,  but  Thou  watchest  over 
us,  and  savest  us  from  the  hands  of  Satan.  We  do 
not  wish  to  follow  him,  but  to  be  Thy  servants,  O 
Jesus,  and  the  servants  of  Thy  Great  Father,  and  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  who  givest  us  life  for  evermore  I " 

Thus  fruit  was  being  manifested  of  that  good  seed 
which  Patteson  was  sowing  in  the  hearts  of  his 
adopted  children.  The  blessed  truths  of  the  Gospel 
were  taking  hold  of  their  mind,  the  Spirit  of  God  was 
already  moving  over  the  face  of  the  dark  waters  of 


ki 


84 


BISHOP  PATTESON 


their  heathen  natures.  And  He  who  breaketh  not  the 
bruised  reed,  and  quencheth  not  the  smoking  flax, 
accepted  these  yearning  cries  for  light  and  mercy, 
giving  to  these  natives  of  the  dark  places  of  the  earth 
the  benediction  of  His  love  and  peace. 


«^- 

*~»,  - 

^^^^^^ 

f^^H" 

*^llfe^^^^^^^^^^^^^l 

^^^C^RSKSKu!*^ 

— 

__^  r^  ^-  /<J 

--ril_  -. 

\ 


If^.fi 


■^^^'^'^^'^^^^s^'^^C^^pBi®  '^^. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

IN     THE     MIDST    OF     HIS     BOYS. 

"  Sower  of  the  immortal  seed, 
Kaiiit  not  in  thy  sacred  toil, 
Leave  results  to  Him  who  1  iiows 
BotJi  the  sower  and  the  soil. 

"  In  that  day,  God's  Iiar\'est  home, 
Thou  shall  at  the  Master's  feet 
Lay  thy  sheaf  of  gold  and  hear 
His  '  well  done  '  thy  labour  gree;.* 

ONCE  more  the  Southern  Cross  set  her  sails  to 
the  breeze,  and  carrying  Bishop  Selwyn  and 
Patteson  steered  for  the  group  of  islands  of  the 
New  Hebrides.  In  most  cases  they  seem  to 
have  met  with  a  friendly  reception.  In  fact,  at  Whit- 
suntide Island,  the  conduct  of  the  chief  exhibited  a 
politeness  similar  to  that  shown  on  a  former  occa- 
sion, which  Patteson  was  always  ready  to  recognise 
and  appreciate  when  met  with  among  these  heathen, 
Ihis  man,  Mankau  by  name,  walked  into  the  water 
to  meet  them,  and  presented  the  Bishop  with  a  branch 
of  bright  hue  as  a  token  of  peace.  This  act  of  welcome 
the  Missionaries  were,  of  course,  not  slow  to  reciprocate  ; 
a  hatchet  was  given  in  exchange  for  the  offering,  and 
the  three  waded  to  shore  together. 


86 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


hi? 


By  signs,  the  dark-skinned  crowd  on  the  beach 
were  persuaded  to  sit  down,  and  the  chief  taking 
charge  of  the  yams  and  fruit  they  had  brought  for 
barter,  conducted  the  exchanges  with  marked  civility. 
Ignorant  these  poor  natives  were,  and  in  their  habits 
and  impulses  brutish  too,  but  only  those  who  per- 
sistently refuse  to  admit  any  virtue  in  the  coloured 
race  could  deny  much  that  was  noble  in  these  repre- 
sentatives of  it.  The  foliage  and  volcanic  beauty  of 
these  islands  struck  the  visitors.  In  the  case  of  Sugar- 
Loaf  Island,  the  crater  of  the  extinct  volcano  was 
covered  with  lovely  creepers,  festooned  from  point 
to  point. 

Many  of  the  places  had  already  been  visited  by  tlie 
Bishop  before,  and  Selwyn  eagerly  sought  for  the 
chiefs  who  had  promised  well  in  times  past.  A  most 
encouraging  feature  was  the  desire  for  teaching,  and 
the  readiness  to  accept  the  good  news  on  every  hand 
exhibited.  Reaching  the  island  of  New  Caledonia,  a 
large  and  important  place  upon  which  the  French  had 
recently  formed  a  colony,  a  visit  was  made  to  Basset, 
the  chief  of  Venen,  who  had  already  years  before  asked 
very  earnestly  for  an  English  missionary.  Bishop 
Selwyn  took  a  boat  and  rowed  up  the  river  to  where 
this  potentate  held  his  court,  and  found  Basset  lying 
before  his  house,  surrounded  by  his  men.  On  every 
hand  signs  of  industry  were  apparent ;  the  yams  were 
being  carefully  and  regularly  cultivated,  and  the 
habitations  appeared  well  built  and  orderly.  The  chief 
greeted  his  visitors  heartily.  "  Ah,  Bishop,  long  time 
you  no  come  see  me,  you  see  plenty  house  here  all 
ready,  all  men  want  to  learn,  what  for  no  man  come 
to  teach  ?  " 

Surely  the  broken  English  of  this  chief,  in  its  simple 
earnestness,  was  as  truly  an  appeal  as,  when  in  the 
vision  of  the  man  from  Macedonia,  the  prayer  was 
"  Come  over  and  help  us." 

Here  was  an  open  door,  but  no  man  was  ready  to 
xnter  therein.     Bishop  Selwyn  had  to  tell  Basset  lliat 


IN  THE  MIDST  OF  HIS  BOYS. 


87 


he  had  better  come  to  Auckland  to  plead  his  own 
cause,  for  he  had  failed  hitherto  in  trying  to  find  a 
pastor  for  his  country.  Instead  of  this,  however,  the 
chief  could  only  send  a  little  orphan  boy  to  be  trained 
in  the  Auckland  school.  Afterwards  the  French, 
mistrusting  his  loyalty  towards  them,  took  the  chief  a 
prisoner  to  Tahiti,  and  he  was  heard  of  no  more. 
The  presence  of  the  French  in  the  island  of  New 


THE   COUKTEOUS  tUIEr, 

Caledonia  introduced  a  new  element  into  llic  clifliculties 
in  the  way  of  the  Melancsian  Missions.  They  had 
not  only  established  themselves  on  the  larger  island, 
but  claimed  a  right  to  interfere  with  the  natives  of 
the  Loyalty  group  adjacent.  The  Rcniish  priests  were 
unported  into  the  midst  of  these  people,  and,  backed 
up  by  the  men-of-war  afloat  and  the  soldiers  ashore, 
they  endeavoured  to  make  converts  by  coercion.  It 
has    been    seen    that   wherever    Bishop   Selwyn  and 


88 


niSHOP  PATTESOy. 


Patteson  travelled  on  their  missionary  work,  they 
found  themselves  in  cordial  sympathy  with  the  labours 
of  other  Protestant  Christians  ;  but  the  Roman  Catholic 
Mission  would  have  no  fellowship  with  them,  and 
persisted  in  opposing  them  everywhere. 

It  was  evident  that  with  all  their  material  and  war- 
like support,  the  work  of  the  priests  did  not  make 
much  headway  among  the  natives;  they  had  heard 
tidings  of  a  better  Gospel,  and  were  dispKised  to 
resent  the  intrusion  of  a  distasteful  religion  presented 
to  them  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  And  yet  they 
were  so  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  French,  that 
Patteson,  fearing  a  serious  outbreak,  hastened  to 
negotiate  with  the  principal  priest,  Pfere  Montrouzier, 
who  was  a  man  of  considerable  experience  in  this 
work.  He  thoroughly  distrusted  the  natives,  and  was 
determined  to  let  them  feel  his  authority.  At  the 
same  time,  Patteson  found  him  a  highly  intelligent 
man  ;  and  their  discussion  of  the  rights  of  teaching 
the  heathen  was  not  altogether  unsatisfactory.  "He 
knew  his  power,"  says  Patteson  in  his  journal,  "  but 
he  behaved,  I  must  say,  well ;  and  if  he  is  really 
sincere  about  the  liberty  of  religious  questions,  I  must 
be  satisfied  with  the  result  of  our  talk." 

Strange  it  seems  to  find  these  two  men  meeting  here, 
the  astute  French  ecclesiastic  and  the  zealous  English- 
man, talking  together  under  the  waving  cocoanut 
palms,  and  afterwards  sleeping  together  in  one  of  the 
rough  dwellings  close  by.  Let  us  hope  that  while  on 
the  matter  under  consideration  they  came  to  a  satis- 
factory understanding,  and  did  not  fail  to  discover 
that  behind  their  theological  differences  they  could 
touch  mutually  in  a  grasp  of  real  sympathy,  and 
recognise  in  each  other  a  unity  of  loyalty  to  the  service 
of  a  common  Master. 

Patteson  characteristically  tells  us  in  his  journals  his 
experiences  over  these  negotiations.  How,  when  it 
was  over,  the  black  people  who  had  been  anxiously 
watching   thf    palaver,    formed   a   circle   round   them, 


NATIVt    HUT,    NKW   CALt'lHJMA. 


BISHOP  PA  ITESON. 


ofTering  yams  in  abundance,  as  a  cstimcny  of  their 
respect  and,  to  Pattcson,  as  a  sign  of  their  gratitude. 
And  how  he  stood  up  and  made  a  8|  i  ch  to  the  people 
in  the  Lifu  language,  which  to  the  Funch  missionary 
was  Greek  indeed,  saying, — 

"  Be  kind  to  the  French,  give  them  food  and  lodging. 
This  is  a  duty  which  you  are  bound  to  pay  to  all 
men ;  but  if  they  try  to  persuade  you  to  change  the 
teaching  which  you  have  received,  don't  listen  to  them. 
Who  taught  you  to  leave  off  war,  and  evil  habits,  to 
build  chapels,  to  pray  ?  Remember  that,  trust  the 
teachers  who  have  taught  you  the  Word  of  God." 

After  this,  Patteson  returned  to  talk  the  matter  over 
with  John  Cho,  his  native  minister.  He  shows  us 
that  this  kind  of  travelling  was  no  child's  play. 
"  Walked  twenty  miles  back  to  We,  where  I  am  now 
writing.  Went  the  twenty  miles  with  no  socks ;  feet 
sore,  and  shoes  worn  to  pieces,  cutting  off  leather  as 
I  came  along.  Nothing  but  broken  bottles  equals 
jagged  coral.  Paths  went  so  that  you  never  take 
three  steps  in  the  same  direction,  and  every  minute 
trip  up  against  logs — coral  hidden  by  long  leaves  and 
weeds  trailing  over  the  path.  Often  for  half  a  mile 
you  jump  from  one  piece  of  coral  to  another.  No 
shoes  can  stand  it ;  and  I  was  tired  I  assure  you.  In- 
deed, for  the  last  two  days,  if  1  stopped  for  a  minute 
to  drink  a  nut,  my  legs  were  so  stiff  that  they  did  not 
get  into  play  for  five  minutes  or  so." 

The  delicacy  of  the  youths  who  were  being  gathered 
for  training  at  St.  John's  College  became  again  a 
pressing  question,  and  necessitated  the  establishment 
of  a  school  in  one  of  the  islands  which  should  be 
sufliciently  sheltered  for  a  winter  residence.  Lifu  was 
decided  upon,  and  Patteson  remained  here  over  three 
weeks,  teaching  his  class  of  twenty-five  young  fellows. 
His  letters  show  how  absorbed  he  was  .in  his  work — 
felling  trees,  building  houses,  doctoring  his  patients, 
earnestly  engaged  all  round. 

The  next  incident  to  be  noted  was  the  establish- 


/iV  THE  MIDST  OF  HIS  BOYS. 


91 


ment  of  the  headquarters  of  the  Mission  at  Kohima- 
«ma.  a  small  bay  on  the  New  Zealand  coast,  about 
lo  miJ=s  away  from  Auckland.  From  thence  Patteson, 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Dudley  Mr.  Kerr.  ^ev.  ».  E. 
Ashwell,  and  a  number  of  native  scholars,  sailed  on  a 
cruise  about  the  islands.  They  came  in  »'ght  of 
Erromanga.  and  here,  on  the  s.te  of  the  martyrdom 
of  the  devoted  John  Williams  and  his  companion,  Mr. 


A  M£LANESIAN  bTREAM. 


Harris,  they  were  hospitably  entertained  by  the  Scotch 
missionary,  Rev.  Mr.  Gordon.  He  told  them  how 
scandalously  the  sandal-wood  traders  had  treated 
these  poor  natives,  burning  their  villages,  and  enraging 
them  against  all  Europeans.  The  missionaries  had 
been  driven  off,  and  the  work  of  God  stayed  by  the 
persecution  of  the  vindictive  chiefs.  After  joining  in 
prayer,  Mr.  Gordon  accompanied  his  visitors,  under 
the  midnight  moon,  to  the  spot  on  the  beach  where 


MICROCOPY   RESOLUTION   TEST   CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


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92 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


H 


Williams  was  murdered,  and  related  how  it  occurred. 
Bishop  Selwyn,  with  a  Samoan  teacher,  was  the  first 
to  visit  the  isle  after  this  dreadful  occurrence  and  tells 
how,  when  they  came,  they  knelt  reverently  on  the 
spot  where  the  faithful  missionaries  fell,  and  prayed 
that  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  might  open  a  path  for  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel. 

While  other  men  were  filled  with  ambition  to  make 
a  name,  Patteson  was  supremely  content  to  live  again 
in  these  Melanesian  lads,  to  watch  the  kindling  of  the 
Divine  grace  in  their  natures,  to  recognise  that  Christ- 
love  which  was  so  precious  to  his  own  heart,  irradiating 
the  experience  of  these  for  whom  the  Saviour  died. 
Like  the  messengers  whose  feet  were  beautiful  on  the 
mountains,  he  had  brought  to  them  the  good  tidings 
of  peace,  the  evangel  which  cast  out  the  devil  from 
them,  and  led  them  in  quietness  and  humility  to  sit  at 
the  feet  of  Jesus.  It  was  the  one  great  purpose  of  his 
life,  he  had  no  time  nor  any  inclination  to  think  about 
other  matters.  He  felt  the  immense  relief  of  being  at 
such  a  distance  from  the  sphere  of  contention  and 
theological  difference.  He  says  in  one  of  his  letters 
home, — 

"  My  dear  father  writes  in  great  anxiety  about  the 
Denison  case.  O  dear !  what  a  cause  of  thankfulness 
it  is  to  be  out  of  the  din  of  controversy,  and  to  find 
hundreds  of  thousands  longing  for  crumbs  which  are 
shaken  about  so  roughly  in  these  angry  disputes ! 
It  isn't  High  or  Low  or  Broad  Church  or  any  other 
special  name ;  but  the  longing  desire  to  forget  all 
distinctions,  and  to  return  to  a  simpler  state  of  things, 
that  seems  naturally  to  result  from  the  very  sight  of 
heathen  people.  Who  thinks  of  anything  but  this : 
'  They  have  not  heard  the  name  of  the  Saviour  who 
died  for  them,'  when  he  is  standing  with  crowds  of 
naked  fellows  round  him  ?  " 

Many  instances  could  be  cited  of  the  success  of 
his  teaching.  One  of  his  Nengone  boys  named 
Wadrokala  was  very  promising,  and  it  was  clear  that 


IN  THE  MIDST  OF  HIS  BOYS. 


93 


his  heart  was  full  of  deep  and  sincere  musings  on 
spiritual  things.  He  came  to  Patteson  one  night 
for  a  little  talk,  and  to  tell  his  teacher  what  thoughts 
had  passed  through  his  mind.  "  I  have  heard,"  said 
he,  "  all  kinds  of  words  used— faith,  repentance,  praise, 
prayer — and  I  don't  clearly  understand  what  is  the 
real  great  thing— the  chief  thing  of  all.  They  used 
these  words  confusedly,  and  I  feel  puzzled.  Then 
I  read  that  the  Pharisees  knew  a  great  deal  of  the 
law,  and  so  did  the  Scribes,  and  yet  they  were  not 
good.  Now  /  know  something  of  the  Bible,  and  /  can 
write ;  and  I  fear  very  much,  I  often  feel  very  much 
afraid  that  I  am  not  good,  1  am  not  doing  anything 
good." 

Shortly  afterwards  this  youth  was  unintentionally 
hurt  by  remarks  made  as  to  his  new  clothes,  inferring 
that  he  cared  too  much  for  them.  But  he  replied, 
"  One  thing  only  I  care  for,  that  I  may  receive  the 
Life  for  my  spirit,  therefore  I  fear,  I  confess  and  say  to 
you,  it  is  not  the  things  for  the  body  I  want,  but  the 
one  thing  I  want  is  the  clothing  for  the  soul,  for  Jesus 
Christ's  sake  our  Lord." 

From  the  evidence  of  eye-witnesses  we  are  able  to 
see  what  interest  the  pupils  of  St.  John's  took  in  the 
lessons  of  their  friend  and  pastor.  The  evening  ser- 
vices were  conducted  in  several  languages,  so  that  the 
prayers  might  be  entered  into  by  the  natives  from 
Bauro,  Gera,  and  other  islands.  Patteson,  with  his 
marvellous  command  of  the  most  difficult  dialects,  also 
expounded  the  lessons  from  Holy  Scripture,  so  that 
each  and  all  might  understand.  It  was  noticed  that 
where  he  only  knew  a  few  expressions  he  would  throw 
into  those  few  words  such  an  intense  and  heart-stirring 
earnestness  that  few  could  remain  unaffected  by  what 
he  said.  So  much  would  the  lads  enjoy  his  discourses, 
that  while  their  habit  was  to  take  notes  of  what  he 
said,  they  often  laid  down  their  pencils  and  listened 
with  rapt  interest. 

The  teaching  they  received  was  of  a  really  practical 


t  1 


I 


94 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


tr 


it- 


!  ' 


nature,  which  was  indeed  specially  required  for  these 
young  converts,  and  went  judiciously  to  show  how 
Christianity  must  influence  and  exalt  the  humblest 
duties  of  their  life.  Patteson  urged  this  point  home. 
It  is  on  record  that  at  one  time  some  of  the  married 
men  had  been  greatly  attached  to  the  pleasure  of  a 
draught-board,  and  this  while  their  wives  were  doing 
all  the  domestic  work,  fetching  the  water  and  so  forth, 
which  their  husbands  ought  to  have  felt  it  their 
bounden  duty  to  do.  Here  then  was  a  state  of  things 
which  required  the  interference  of  Patteson,  not  direct, 
because  that  wouIJ  be  neither  becoming  nor  wise. 
So  one  evening  he  preached  to  them  from  the  text, 
"If  thy  hand  or  thy  foot  offend  thee,"  etc.,  and  was 
evidently  worked  up  by  his  subject  so  that  his  face 
shone  with  excitement.  His  audience  drank  in  every 
word,  the  earnest  force  of  his  loving  message  entered 
every  heart.  Upon  those  for  whose  profit  it  was 
specially  intended,  the  sermon  had  a  marked  effect; 
they  walked  away  afterwards  silently  and  deeply 
moved,  and  the  one  who  had  chiefly  offended  in  the 
matter  lay  awake  all  night  meditating  upon  it.  Finally 
he  rose  with  a  mind  fully  made  up,  and  fearing  lest 
the  temptation  should  again  overcome  him,  promptly 
pitched  the  draught-board  into  the  fire. 

Just  about  this  time,  Patteson  says  in  one  of  his 
letters,  "  My  father  writes,  my  tutor  says  '  there  must 
be  a  Melanesian  Bishop  soon,  and  that  you  will  be 
the  man,'  a  sentence  which  amuses  me  not  a  little." 

But  those  who  had  watched  his  career  and  his 
splendid  grip  upon  the  work,  were  convinced  that  he 
was  the  man  when  the  time  should  come.  Already  the 
question  was  being  mooted  at  home,  the  Mission  had 
made  such  strides  that  the  need  of  more  effective 
organisation  and  larger  support  was  pressing  on  the 
minds  of  the  friends  in  England. 

Anyway,  whatever  his  future  status  in  the  work 
should  be,  Patteson  had  fully  decided  to  stand  by 
Melanesia.     His  heart  was  there,  and  the  spell  of  its 


/.V  THE  MIDST  OF  HIS  BOYS. 


95 


claims  had  quite  overcome  any  lingering  desire  to 
return  to  his  native  land.  There  had  been  some  sug- 
gestion that  he  should  revisit  home  to  plead  the  cause 
of  the  work  ;  but  the  idea  had  no  attractions  for  him. 
While  few  men  had  perhaps  a  closer  family  affection, 


NATIVE   OF  ANEITYUM,    NEW   HEBRIDES. 

his  sense  of  duty  always  recalled  his  thoughts  to  the 
land  of  his  adoption.  He  had  not  been  long  away 
when,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  his  sister,  he  spoke  of  the 
pain  of  parting  from  her,  and  begged  her  to  have  "  a 
perfect  assurance  that  God  is  ordering  all  things  for  our 
good,  so  let  us  struggle  on  to  the  end."     He  bids  her 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


i 


look  forward,  as  he  docs,  to  a  coming  day  when  in  the 
infinite  mercy  of  God  they  will  be  united  again,  and 
then  to  part  no  more  for  ever.  But  how  much  he  felt 
himself  is  evidenced  by  a  touching  passage  in  that 
same  epistle.  He  says,  "  I  read  on  in  your  letter  till 
I  came  to  '  Dear  Coley,  it  is  very  hard  to  live  without 
you,'  and  I  broke  down  and  cried  like  a  child.  I  was 
quite  alone,  out  in  the  fields  on  a  glorious  bright  day, 
and  it  was  the  relief  I  had  longed  for.  The  few  simple 
words  told  me  the  whole  story,  and  I  prayed  with  my 
whole  heart  that  you  might  find  strength  in  your  hour 
of  sadness." 

Here  again  his  thoughts  are  for  his  sister,  the  pang 
which  he  felt  found  its  relief  in  tears  and  cries  to  the 
God  of  all  comfort,  that  she  might  be  consoled. 
Throughout  his  torrespondence  the  same  spirit  is 
always  manifested,  and  he  tells  his  father  that  not  even 
the  desire  he  naturally  has  to  see  him  would  induce 
him  to  leave  his  boys  even  for  a  short  time.  The  aged 
judge  had  already  anticipated  his  son's  feelings,  and 
urged  him  certainly  not  on  his  account  to  think  of 
returning  home.  Patteson  assures  his  father  that  he 
is  happier  out  there  than  he  would  possibly  be  at  home. 

He  was  in  the  right  mood  for  labour,  a  heart  humbly 
stayed  on  God  and  fearing  nothing.  He  closes  his 
farewell  note  with  the  sentence,  "  I  think  I  see  more 
fully  that  work,  by  the  power  of  God's  Spirit,  is  the 
condition  of  us  all  in  this  world  ;  tiny  and  insignificant 
as  the  greatest  work  of  the  greatest  man  is,  in  itself, 
yet  the  one  talent  is  to  be  used." 

Touching  at  Norfolk  Island  he  finds  his  old  friend 
John  Cho  in  very  bad  health,  sick  unto  death ;  he  told 
him  he  knew  he  was  sustained  by  the  presence  of 
Christ.  Patteson  had  much  conversation  with  him, 
and  also  with  the  other  converts,  who  were  full  of 
solicitude  at  the  prospect  of  losing  their  native  teacher. 
Then  passing  on  to  Tanna,  where  the  Presbyterians 
had  their  mission,  he  called  to  say  an  encouraging 
word  to  Mr.  Paton,  the  missionary  there.    The  position 


IN  THE  MIDST  OF  HIS  BOYS, 


97 


of  this  faithful  servant  of  the  Cross  was  pathetic,  his 
wife  had  died  recently,  and  the  great  grief  of  his 
loneliness  was  aggravated  and  intensified  by  the  an- 
kindness  of  the  natives.  Worn  himself  through  fever, 
it  was  only  the  strength  of  his  spirit,  resting  on  God, 
which  held  him  to  his  post;  as  Bishop  Selwyn  re- 
marked,  "  He  was  one  of  those  weak  things  which 

God  had  chosen."  ^      li   u      • 

Patteson  felt  humbled  in  sight  of  such  noble  heroism, 
"  I  know  he  made  me  feel  pretty  ^yell  ashamed  of  my- 
self"  is  his  comment  on  the  interview. 

After  visiting  several  other  islands,  swimming  ashore, 
preaching  to  the  people,  and  preparing  new  ground 
for  the  reception  of  the  truth,  Patteson  returns  to  his 
school-work  again.    Especially  now  are  all  his  exertions 
put  forth  for  the  completion  of  the  new  college,  which 
had   been  transferred   from    Auckland    to   the   more 
desirable  situation  at  Kohimarama.     Here  houses  were 
to  be  planned,   farms  arranged,  and  a  multitude  of 
schemes  carried  into  shape  and  utility  by  his  industry 
and  skill.    The  result  is  perfectly  satisfactory,  and  so 
happy  is  he  that  his  letters  home  are  full  of  glowing 
accounts  of  the  progress  of  the  mission.    He  is  working 
very  hard,  and  sometimes  fears  lest  these  many  duties 
should  steal  from  him  the  privileges  of  prayer      He  tells 
his  father  of  this  difficulty  as  he  finds  it :  "  I  find  from 
time  to  time  that  I  wake  up  to  the  fact  that  while  I  am 
doing  more  than  I  did  in  old  times,  yet  that  I  pray  less. 
Thus  he  examines  strictly  his  own  heart-experiences, 
and  realises,  a-i  all  must  who  do  this  aright,  that  a 
suffering  is  oi  God,  and  that  He  who  alone  is  able  will 
show  us   F''^   salvation   in  due  time.     These  words, 
however,  show  the  man  in  his  simple,  sincere  nature, 
looking  within  to  examine  himself  as  to  the  work  of 
grace  in  his  own  soul,  and  then  lovingly  and  earnestly 
looking  outwards  upon  the  faces  of  these  "  boys     of 
his  plucked  here  and  there  from  the  abodes  of  darkest 
evil,  and  transplanted  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of 
the  Lord. 


98 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


li 


This  chapter  shall  close  with  his  own  feelings  as  he 
stands  in  the  midst  of  this  happy  labour, — 

"  I  have  the  jolliest  little  fellows  this  time— about 
seven  of  them— fellows  scarcely  too  big  to  take  on 
my  knee  and  talk  to  about  God  and  heaven  and  Jesus 
Christ,  and  I  feel  almost  as  if  I  had  a  kind  of  instinct 
of  love  towards  them,  as  they  look  up  wonderingly 
with  their  deep,  deep  eyes,  and  smooth  and  glossy 
skins,  and  warm,  soft  cheeks,  and  ask  th'ir  simple 
questions.  I  wish  you  could  have  seen  the  twenty  Banks 
islanders,  as  I  told  them  that  most  excellent  of  all  tales 
—the  story  of  Joseph.  How  their  eyes  glistened ! 
And  they  pushed  out  their  heads  to  hear  the  sequel  of 
his  making  himself  known  to  his  brethren,  and  asking 
once  more  about  *  the  old  man  of  whom  ye  spake,  is  he 

yet  alive  ? ' 

"  I  can  never  read  it  with  a  steady  voice  nor  tell  it 

either." 


CHAPTER    VII. 


THE   BISHOP   OF   MELANESIA. 


"A  path  ascends  from  e'en  the  lowliest  life, 
Winding  through  shadows  up  the  mount  of  God : 
Behind  them  leaving  all  the  din  and  strile, 
The  meek  in  heart  walk  oft  this  heavenly  road : 
In  light  divine  the  happy  spirit  sings, 
And  holds  sweet  converse  with  the  King  of  kings." 

JUST  five  years  to  a  day  from  the  date  of  his 
leaving  home,  that  is,  the  26th  of  March,  i860, 
Patteson  had  to  witness  the  departure  of  one  of 
his  most  faithful  converts.  This  native  youth  had 
come  from  Nengone,  and  had  been  named  at  his 
baptism  George  Selwyn  Simeona,  in  memory  of  the 
good  Bishop.  The  heart  of  Patteson  seems  to  have 
been  greatly  set  on  this  young  man,  and  he  was  en- 
couraged by  seeing  how  wonderfully  the  power  of  the 
Gospel  had  transformed  his  character.  That  he  would 
one  day  go  forth  to  preach  to  his  fellow-islanders  and 
be  a  shining  light  burning  for  Christ,  where  in  the  dense 
darkness  His  salvation  was  most  needed,  this  was  the 
hope  of  his  teacher  ;  but  the  great  Master  of  the  vine- 
yard had  ordered  it  otherwise.  The  delicacy  of  his 
lungs  had  succumbed  to  the  rigours  of  a  New  Zealand 


100 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


winter,  and  he  was  slowly  dying  of  consumption. 
Patteson  nursed  him  with  the  tenderness  of  a  woman, 
and  would  have  taken  him  back  to  his  native  air  if 
he  had   been  willing  to  go,  but  he  had  no  wish  to 

do  so. 

"Heaven    is  no  farther   from   New  Zealand  than 

Nengone." 

This  was  his  answer,  and  when  they  were  ready  to 
set  sail  he  ran  down  the  beach,  ill  as  he  was,  and 
begged  to  be  allowed  to  go  with  them.  His  end  soon 
began  to  draw  near  ;  and  taking  the  Holy  Communion 
from  the  Bishop  and  Patteson,  he  passed  away,  the 
latter  holding  his  hand  and  praying  for  his  boy  all  the 
time.  In  his  journal  he  makes  the  following  brief 
note  of  his  feelings  at  this  moment,— 

"The  clear  bright  moon  was  right  over  my  head 
as,  after  a  while,  and  after  prayer  from  his  friends, 
1  left  his  room  ;  the  quiet  splash  of  the  tiny  waves 
on  our  sheltered  shore,  and  the  little  schooner  at 
her  anchorage;  and  I  thanked  God  that  one  more 
spirit  from  among  the  Melanesian  Islanders  had 
gone    to   dwell,   we   trust,    with   Jesus    Christ    in 

Paradise."  , .  ,.  ,.«,    i     • 

In  passing  among  the  islands,  the  chief  difficulty  in 
many  cases  lay  rather  more  with  the  superstitions  of 
the  idolatrous  religions,  already  established,  than  with 
the  natural  ignorance  and  wildness  of  the  people. 
The  instinct  of  worship  had  preceded  Patteson  every- 
where, that  universal  sense  of  shrinking  fear  of  a 
power  unseen  and  able  to  injure,  which  makes  the 
heart  of  the  boldest  savage  tremble  at  the  shiver  of 
a  leaf.  The  priests,  medicine-men,  and  other  visual 
representatives  of  the  evil  spirit,  had  already  enthralled 
the  minds  of  the  people  in  a  miserable  bondage. 
Amongst  the  natives  of  the  island  of  Mota  there 
existed  a  belief  in  a  deity  styled  Ikpat,  and  this  god 
was  constantly  being  tricked  and  annoyed  by  his 
relatives.  Great  was  the  fear  of  this  evil  spirit.  It 
was    supposed    that   he    had    disappeared    seawards. 


THE  BISHOP  OF  MELANESIA. 


101 


Then  these  poor  deluded  people  were  tortured  with  the 
thought  of  dead  souls  straying  about  at  niRht,  and 
touching  with  insanity  any  who  came  within  their 
grasp.  When  Patteson  and  other  white  men  appeared, 
they  concluded  in  a  terrible  horror  that  these  were  the 
ghosts  of  their  dead  friends.  Such  an  idea,  while  it 
may  have  surrounded  the  visitors  with  a  certain  super- 
natural reverence,  was  hardly  helpful  to  bearers  of  the 
good  news  of  the  Cross. 

On  one  occasion,  when  Patteson  had  been   paying 
a  visit  to  a  place  called  Tasmate,  where  the  scenery 


^1! 


AN   ARMED  MOTA   NATIVE. 


was  very  beautiful,  this  village  being  hidden  away 
among  the  palm-trees,  he  had  heard  that  a  religious 
feast  was  to  be  held  in  the  neighbourhood,  so  he 
made  his  way  thither.  He  had  already  come  in 
contact  with  the  superstitious  influence  which  per- 
vaded the  minds  of  the  inhabitants,  for  one  morning  an 
old  native  had  come  solemnly  up  to  the  place  where 
Patteson  and  his  party  had  established  themselves, 
and  had  stuck  in  the  ground  a  branch  of  a  red  flowery 
tree.  This  simple  act  had  caused  the  greatest  dismay 
among  the  native  boys,  and  had  forced  them,  evidently 


i' 


'J' 


103 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


I  - 


%. 


I   I 


h    '     '! 


with  much  reluctance,  to  take  to  flight.  Patteson  had 
had  of  course  an  earnest  palaver  with  the  medicine- 
man, and  had  at  last  persuaded  him  to  remove  the 
fear-inspiring  fetish,  which  had  brought  the  lads  back 
again. 

Me  speaks  of  the  spot  where  this  festival  was  being 
held  as  very  lovely  in  its  surrounding  foliage,  and 
within  sight  of  the  glittering  sea.  There  seems  to 
have  been  the  usual  "  tom-tomming,"  of  the  native 
drums,  which  are  formed  out  of  the  hollow  trees,  and 
the  drum-sticks  which  are  plied  so  vigorously  are 
wooden  mallets.  The  women  and  children  were  sit- 
ting in  a  circle  by  themselves,  and  the  principal  per- 
formers appear  to  have  been  sundry  fellows  decked 
out  with  red  leaves  and  feathers  waving  above  their 
heads.  Patteson  noticed  that  there  was  a  sacred  stone 
in  the  centre  of  the  group,  and  upon  this  lay  some 
pig's  jaws  with  their  tusks  remaining,  presumably  as  a 
sacrifice.  He  was  also  struck  with  the  behaviour  of 
an  old  man,  whose  costume  consisted  of  a  red  hand- 
kerchief which  had  been  given  him  by  the  missionary 
on  a  previous  occasion,  and  who  travelled  about  with  a 
boar's  skull. 

This  performance,  which  appears  to  have  lacked  the 
virtue  of  variety,  might  have  continued  for  an  inde- 
finite time  had  not  a  sudden  shower  of  rain  driven  the 
people,  priests,  and  all  into  the  shelter  of  one  of  the 
big  huts  near.     Patteson  adds, — 

"  In  the  long  room  afterwards  I  had  the  oppor- 
tunity of  saying  quietly  what  I  had  said  to  those  about 
me  during  the  ceremony,  the  same  story  of  the  love  of 
God,  especially  manifested  in  Jesus  Christ  to  turn  men 
from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan 
unto  God." 

With  these  idolatrous  ceremonies  and  worship 
Patteson  would  make  no  truce,  although  he  might  by 
a  little  concession  have  possibly  gained  a  temporary 
popularity.  It  required  no  little  pluck  to  act  as 
Patteson   did   towards   many   of  the   chiefs;    as,    for 


THE  BISHOP  OF  MELANESIA. 


103 


instance,  with  one  who  brought  him  offerings  of  fruit, 
etc.,  which  he  refused,  and  ordered  him  to  take  awny, 
as  his  teaching  and  example  were  injurious  to  the 
young  natives.  It  must  be  remembered  that  Patteson, 
when  acting  th  was  alone,  unarmed  and  unprotected 
in  the  midst  oi  a  large  population  of  uncivilised 
heathen,  and  that  a  slight  offence  might,  humanly 
speaking,  have  cost  him  his  life.  But  the  fearless 
heart  was  supported  by  a  sense  of  the  Divine  presence, 
and  he  felt,  "that  as  the  mountains  are  round  about 
Jerusalem,  so  is  the  Lord  round  about  them  that  fear 
Him." 

Every  true  missionary  carries  his  life  in  his  hands  ; 
but  while  it  would  appear  that  the  odds  are  so  much 
against  him,  one  poor  human  creature  defenceless 
against  a  thousand,  it  is  really  God  and  that  one,  and 
this  makes  j  U  the  difference. 

About  this  time  Patteson  made  a  cruise  in  an  open 
boat  to  Saddle  Island,  but  met  with  much  stormy 
weather,  the  heavy  tropical  rains  pouring  down ;  and 
once,  for  lack  of  a  shelter,  two  days  and  a  night  had 
to  be  spent  on  the  sea.  The  hardships  and  exposure, 
to  which  he  so  freely  exposed  himself,  at  last  began 
to  tell  upon  him,  he  suffered  from  a  painful  tumour 
in  the  ear,  and  much  sleeplessness.  From  both  these, 
however,  he  happily  soon  recovered. 

Just  off  the  coast  of  New  Zealand  was  a  dangerous 
shoal  of  rock,  known  as  the  Hen  and  Chickens,  and 
this  place  was  destined  to  see  the  loss  of  that  brave 
little  schooner,  the  Southern  Cross.  She  had  just  come 
back  from  a  visit  to  the  islands,  and  was  passing  this 
perilous  spot  in  the  darkness  of  the  night  of  the  17th 
June,  when  she  struck,  and  her  passengers  were  only 
saved  by  clinging  to  the  rigging  until  timely  help 
arrived.  She  had  settled  in  the  sand,  and  might  have 
been  got  off  had  there  not  been  such  a  scarcity  of 
labour.  Bishop  Selwyn  had  to  obtain  another  vessel, 
the  Zillah,  which  seems  to  have  proved  unsatisfactory. 
The  loss  of  the  old  vessel  was  keenly  felt;  she  had 


i   j: 


104 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


11 


I.'. 


m 


splendid  sea-going  qualities,  which  were  likened  by 
Bishop  Selwyn  to  the  mettle  of  a  thoroughbred  steed. 
Then  the  associations  of  the  Southern  Cross  were  very 
precious  to  the  Bishop  and  Patteson.  She  had  carried 
them  through  their  missionary  wanderings  in  fair 
weather  and  foul,  her  decks  had  received  the  first 
converts  to  Christianity  from  these  islands,  and  the 
flutter  of  her  white  sails  had  been  as  of  a  welcome 
messenger  of  peace  to  the  natives  wherever  she  had 
gone  a  second  time.  Her  mission  they  knew  was 
not  to  kill,  but  to  make  alive,  not  like  the  traders  to 
enslave  their  sons,  but  to  bring  them  word  of 
the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  shall  make  them 
free. 

That  perennial  enemy  of  the  faithful  missionary  in 
tropical  latitudes,  ill-health,  began  to  lay  aside  the 
workers.  Mr.  Dudley,  the  excellent  volunteer  and 
co-worker  with  Patteson,  fell  ill  with  sunstroke  on  the 
arrival  of  the  Zillak  at  Auckland,  and  for  a  time  needed 
careful  attention. 

He  had  accompanied  Patteson  in  his  cruise  to  Mota, 
and  in  the  journal  of  the  Rev.  B.  E.  Ashwell,  who 
formed  one  of  the  party,  we  have  many  interesting 
details  of  the  work  among  the  Melanesians.  He  had 
a  good  knowledge  of  the  language,  and  was  able  there- 
fore to  second  Patteson  in  speaking  to  the  natives. 
On  their  visit  to  Mai,  where  they  left  some  Melanesian 
lads,  we  find  the  people  running  in  crowds  to  meet  the 
missionaries  ;  and  when  the  chief  had  enjoined  silence, 
Patteson  spoke  to  them  of  "  the  Lamb  of  God  which 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  Mr.  Dudley  followed 
with  an  earnest  address  and  prayer,  while  the  vast 
congregation  knelt  on  the  ground  with  unaffected 
solemnity. 

It  was  now  the  duty  of  Patteson  to  nurse  his  sick 
brother,  and  at  the  same  time  perform  a  like  office 
for  several  of  his  native  pupils  on  board.  Mr.  Dudley 
recovered,  and  has  placed  on  record  how  assiduously 
and  tenderly  Patteson  watched  over  his  patients.     His 


X 

w 

71 
M 
O 

fi 

O 
"> 

H 
S 
P) 


c 

H 

s 
w 

f) 

50 
O 


io6 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


was  in  truth  a  character  in  which  great  gentleness  was 
blended  with  strong  vigour. 

One  of  the  sufferers  died  on  the  voyage,  and  was 
buried  at  sea.  He  begged  Patteson  to  forgive  him  for 
any  trouble  his  fretfulness  had  occasioned,  and,  greatly 
soothed  by  the  best  of  all  comforting,  died,  repeating 
after  his  pastor  the  words  of  the  Lord's  Prayer.  The 
weather,  too,  seems  to  have  been  very  unpropitious ; 
now  distressed  by  contrary  winds,  they  were  at  other 
times  not  less  troubled  by  enforced  delay  in  calm  seas. 
But  Mr.  Dudley  tells  us  that  through  all  Patteson  was 
the  life  and  spirit  of  the  ship,  and  his  voice,  with  such 
a  pathos  in  it,  repeating  the  sublime  words  of  the 
morning  and  evening  services,  fell  upon  their  ears  with 
a  power  never  to  be  forgotten. 

He  was  not  free  himself  from  pain.  In  one  of  his 
letters  to  his  uncle  Edward,  he  speaks  of  being  laid 
aside  for  six  days. 

Mr.  Dudley  tells  us  how  he  used  to  walk  to  and  fro  all 
night,  while  suffering  agonies  from  the  tumour  in  his 
ear,  having  to  bear  also  the  intrusion  of  curious  and 
idle  natives  into  his  apartment,  who  seemed  to  have 
taken  possession  with  no  little  familiarity,  some  of 
them  stretching  themselves  on  his  table.  His  friend 
records  how  at  such  times  he  came  upon  these  indi- 
viduals with  the  greatest  good- humour,  and  bundled 
them  all  out. 

With  the  opening  of  the  year  1861,  came  an  incident 
which  is  conspicuously  a  red-letter  day  in  the  history 
of  Patteson.  He  had  served  his  six  years  under  the 
guidance  and  supervision  of  Bishop  Selwyn,  who  had 
for  some  time  past  left  him  wholly  responsible. 

If  ever  there  rested  upon  any  man  the  burden  of  a 
Divine  call,  Patteson  was  that  man.  He  had  given 
himself  to  the  work,  and  God  had  given  the  work  into 
his  hands,  prospering  his  labours  with  a  gracious 
blessing.  His  heart,  his  love,  and  his  life  were  in 
Melanesia,  and  so  loyal  was  he  in  the  humility  of 
true  service,   that   when    the   earthly  crown   of  his 


THE  BISHOP  OP  MELANESIA. 


107 


ministry  was  in  sight  he  had  no  ambition  to  take  the 
highest  place.  He  was  quite  willing  to  take  the 
second  position,  but  it  became  clearer  every  day 
that  he  must  acquiesce.  His  words  at  this  time 
were, — 

"And  yet  there  is  no  one  else;  and  if  this  separa- 
tion of  New  Zealand  and  Melanesia  is  necessary,  I 
see  that  this  must  be  the  consequence.  So  I  regard 
it  now  as  a  certainty.  I  pray  God  to  strengthen 
and  enable  me ;  I  loofc  forward,  thanks  be  to  Him, 
hopefully  and  cheerfully.  I  have  the  love  and  prayers 
of  many,  many  friends,  and  soon  the  whole  Church 
of  England  will  recognise  me  as  one  who  stands  in 
special  need  of  grace  and  strength  from  above. 

"  Oh  !  the  awful  power  of  heathenism  !  the  antagon- 
ism, not  of  evil  only,  but  of  the  Evil  One  rather. 
I  mean  the  reality  felt  of  all  evil  emanating  from  a 
person,  as  St.  Paul  writes,  and  as  our  Lord  spoke  of 
him.  I  do  indeed  at  times  feel  overwhelmed  as  if  I 
were  in  a  dream.  Then  comes  some  blessed  word 
or  thought  of  comfort  and  promised  strength  and 
grace." 

It  was  at  first  suggested  that  the  three  consecrat- 
ing bishops  should  perform  the  ceremony  on  one  of 
the  islands,  under  the  waving  palms  and  the  blue 
cloudless  heaven  above,  but  it  was  afterwards  decided 
to  hold  the  service  at  Auckland. 

We  have  seen  Patteson  as  a  little  Eton  boy  in  the 
crowded  Windsor  church  giving  his  young  heart  to 
the  work  of  Christ  among  the  heathen ;  the  time  has 
now  come  when  we  again  look  upon  him,  a  grown 
man  of  thirty-three,  receiving  in  a  house  of  God 
thousands  of  miles  from  his  home  and  friends  the 
solemn  setting  apart  to  the  office  and  ministry  of 
Bishop  of  Melanesia.  What  a  wonderfully  providen- 
tial history  has  bridged  these  two  events!  He  has 
had  his  prayer  answered,  and  like  St,  Paul,  in  perils 
of  waters,  in  perils  by  the  heathen,  in  perils  in  the 
wilderness,  in  weariness  and  painfulness,  in  watchings 


i! 


io8 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


l\ 


often,  and  through  many  infirmities,  the  mighty  God 
of  Jacob  has  been  his  refuge  and*  Strength. 

Of  the  scene  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  Auckland,  we 
have  several  accounts  from  different  witnesses,  and 
from  his  own  pen  some  graphic  and  pathetic  touches. 
Whatever  of  architectural  effect  was  lacking,  there 
was  about  the  service  a  powerful  and  suggestive 
interest  which  gave  to  its  simplest  details  a  special 
solemnity. 

Ten  native  boys,  his  spiritual  children,  sat  close 
to  Patteson,  behind  him  knelt  the  young  Melanesian 
deacon,  Tagalana,  holding  the  book  from  which  the 
Primate  read  the  service.  The  sermon  was  preached 
by  Bishop  Selwyn  from  the  text,  "Now,  Lord,  who 
knowest  the  hearts  of  all  men,  show  whether  of  these 
two  Thou  hast  chosen."  He  reminded  his  hearers 
of  the  fitness  of  the  season,  St.  Matthias'  Day,  and 
urged  upon  them  the  necessity  for  support  and  prayer 
in  carrying  on  this  glorious  work  of  evangelising  the 
heathen.  "  Is  the  promise  yet  fulfilled,"  he  asked, 
"that  in  Abraham  and  his  seed  shall  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth  be  blessed  ?  Has  Christ  already  received 
all  the  heathen  for  His  inheritance,  and  all  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth  for  His  possession  ? 

"  Is  there  no  wilderness  which  has  still  to  blossom 
as  the  rose  ?  No  islands  that  still  wait  for  the  Lord  ? 
No  kingdoms  that  must  become  His?  Are  all  idols 
utterly  abolished  ?  The  vastness  of  the  scope  of  the 
prophetic  visions  at  once  humbles  and  enlarges  the 
mind.  However  little  a  work  may  be,  it  is  part  of 
that  purpose  of  God  which  can  never  fail.  We 
pray  for  our  little  one  in  fear  and  humility,  and 
while  we  pray  it  becomes  a  thousand;  it  is  but  a 
drop  in  the  ocean,  but  that  ocean  is  the  fulness  of 
God." 

As  might  be  expected,  the  preacher,  who  had  been 
so  intimately  associated  with  the  work  and  the  present 
worker,  now  to  receive  his  consecration,  in  closing 
made  some  personal  references.    These  have  a  special 


1 
ii  ? 


THE  BISHOP  OF  MELANESIA. 


109 


interest,  and  deserve  to  be  placed  on  record.  "We 
were  all,"  and  here  he  looked  round  on  his  fellow- 
bishops  Abraham  and  Hobhouse  and  then  upon  the 
upturned  face  of  Patteson,  "we  were  all  trained  in 
the  same  place  of  education  (referring  to  Eton),  united 
in  the  same  circle  of  friends;  in  boyhood,  in  youth, 
in  manhood,  we  have  shared  the  same  sorrows  and 
joys  and  fears. 

"I  received  this  my  son  in  the  ministry  of  Christ 
Jesus,"  said  he,  "  from  the  hands  of  a  father,  of  whose 
old  age  he  was  the  comfort ;  he  sent  him  forth  with- 
out a  murmur,  nay,  rather  with  joy  and  thankfulness, 
to  these  distant  parts  of  the  earth.  He  never  asked 
even  to  see  him  again,  but  gave  him  up  without  reserve 
for  the  Lord's  work." 

Not  less  appropriate  and  touching  were  the  words 
of  this  good  man's  charge  to  his  son  in  the  Gospel. 
They  speak  not  of  earnest  wishes  merely,  nor  even 
the  advocacy  of  a  fervent  prayer,  but  are  almost  pro- 
phetic of  his  future  and  honourable  career.  They 
came  from  one  true  heart  to  another,  a  flowing  to- 
gether of  a  mutual  sympathy  in  a  work  to  which 
both  had  entirely  and  sacredly  given  their  lives. 
Before  the  speaker  sat  the  dark-skinned  boys,  close 
by  the  side  of  their  teacher  and  friend.  In  that  little 
group  the  Bishop  saw  the  first-fruits  of  that  mighty 
harvest  of  souls  which  should  one  day  be  reaped,  as 
the  work  should,  by  Divine  grace,  go  on,  though 
worker  after  worker  should  in  turn  exchange  the 
sickle  for  the  crown.  Here  are  some  of  the  Bishop's 
earnest  conimendations, — 

"May  every  step  of  thy  '  dear  brother,  be  in 
company  with  the  Lord  Jesu 

"  May  Christ  be  with  thee  ab  a  light  to  lighten  the 
Gentiles;  may  He  work  out  in  thee  His  spiritual 
miracles ;  may  He,  through  thee,  give  sight  to  the 
blind,  to  give  glory  to  the  God  invisible;  and  open 
the  ears  of  the  deaf  to  hear  and  receive  the  preaching 
of  His  word ;  and  loose  the  tongues  of  the  dumb  to 


no 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


\ 


sing  His  praise;  and  raise  to  new  life  the  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins  ! 

"  May  Clirist  be  with  you  when  you  go  forth,  in 
His  name  and  for  His  sake,  to  those  poor  and 
needy  people,  to  those  'strangers  destitute  of  help,' 
to  those  mingled  races  who  still  show  forth  the 
curse  of  Babel,  and  wait  for  the  coming  of  another 
Pentecost ! 

"  May  Christ  be  ever  with  you ;  may  you  feel  His 
presence  in  the  lonely  wilderness,  on  the  mountain- 
top,  on  the  troubled  sea!  May  He  go  before  you 
with  His  fan  in  His  hand  to  purge  His  floor  1  He 
will  not  stay  His  hand  until  the  idols  are  utterly 
abolished. 

"  May  Christ  be  ever  with  thee  to  give  thee  utter- 
ance, to  open  thy  mouth  boldly  to  make  known  the 
mystery  of  the  Gospel  1  Dwelling  in  the  midst  of  a 
people  of  unclean  lips,  thou  wilt  feel  Him  present 
with  thee,  to  touch  thy  lips  with  a  live  coal  from 
His  own  altar,  that  many  strangers  of  every  race 
may  hear  in  their,  own  tongue  the  wonderful  work 
of  God. 

"May  Christ  be  ever  with  you;  may  you  sorrow 
with  Him  in  His  agony  and  be  crucified  with  Him 
in  His  death,  be  buried  with  Him  in  His  grave,  rise 
with  Him  to  newness  of  life,  and  ascend  with  Him  in 
heart  to  the  same  place  whither  He  has  gone  before, 
and  feel  that  He  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for 
thee,  'that  thy  faith  fail  not.'" 

Bishop  Selwyn  was  not,  however,  satisfied  with 
speaking  thus  publicly  to  Patteson;  when  afterwards 
ht  went  across  to  him  and  took  his  newly-consecrated 
brother  by  the  hand,  there  was  a  world  of  meaning 
in  the  broken  whisper,  "I  can't  tell  you  what  I  feel 
— you  know  it — my  heart  is  too  full." 

When  they  were  alone,  the  ceremony  being  over, 
these  two  spent  some  time  together  in  loving  converse, 
and  once  more  Selwyn  embraced  him,  with  the  assuring 
words,— 


THE  BISHOP  OF  MELANESIA. 


Ill 


"  I  feel  no  misgiving  in  ray  heart ;  I  think  all  has 
been  done  as  it  should  be." 

Referring  to  his  fellow-bishops  in  the  consecration, 
he  added, — 

"Many  days  we  three  have  discussed  the  matter. 
By  prayer  and  Holy  Communion  we  have  sought 
light  from  above,  and  it  is,  I  believe,  God's  will." 

Then  once  more,  in  an  affectionate  outburst,  he 
kissed  Patteson. 

"  God  bless  you,  my  dear  Coley.  I  can't  say  more 
words,  and  you  don't  desiderate  them." 

"  No,"  was  the  answer,  "  my  heart,  as  yours,  is  too 
full  for  words.  I  have  lived  six  years  with  you  to 
little  purpose  if  I  do  not  know  you  full  well  now." 

Patteson  was  a  man  of  remarkable  nerve,  but  it  is 
a  beautiful  touch  of  heart-feeling  which  makes  him, 
though  calm  throughout  most  of  the  service,  break 
down  in  tears  when  the  Bishop  spoke  those  words 
about  his  aged  father  at  home  giving  him  up  to  the 
work.  And  in  his  letters  it  is  clear  his  mother  was 
not  forgotten;  at  such  a  time,  the  thought  of  her 
seeing  him  and  rejoicing  at  the  fulfilment  of  her 
prayers  must  have  deeply  stirred  his  heart. 

The  Bible  which  his  father  gave  him  on  his  fifth 
birthday  was  used  on  this  occasion — a  touching  link 
between  the  earlier  and  these  later  days. 

His  formal  installation  took  place  in  the  little  chapel 
of  St.  Andrew's  College,  Kohimarama,  in  the  presence 
of  all  his  boys ;  and  afterwards  there  were  suitable 
rejoicings  of  an  English  character,  the  new  Bishop  and 
his  young  fellows  dining  together  off  roast  beef  and 
plum-pudding  in  the  College  hall. 

Patteson  was  at  last  Bishop  of  Melanesia,  and,  look- 
ing over  the  blue  waves,  he  could,  in  imagination,  see 
the  islands  of  his  diocese  dotted  over  the  sea,  and  upon 
each  of  them  groups  of  wild,  dark  men  under  the  palm- 
trees,  who  henceforth  must  be  his  children,  committed 
to  his  lo'.'ing  and  unremitting  care. 

"  May  God  strengthen  me  for  the  duties  of  the  office 


ii 


iia 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


to  which  I  trust  He  has  indeed  called  me!"  Such 
was  his  prayer,  to  which  the  Lord  hearkened,  and  gave 
to  His  servant  the  assuring  promise,  "  My  faithfulness 
and  My  mercy  shall  be  with  himj  and  in  My  name 
shall  his  horn  be  exalted." 


■\\ 


|i  I 


NORFOLK    ISLAND. 


11 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


THE    FATHERLESS    HEART. 

"  Thtre  is  an  hour  in  every  human  life 
When  in  its  inner  chamber  the  soul  !^itd 
And  rocks  its  silent  grief  uncomforted. 
From  that  closed  door  of  woe  they  turn  away 
Who  come  with  fragrant  sympathy  and  tears 
Amazed  and  sad.     Then  He  who  hath  the  key 
Divinely  loving  freely  enters  in, 
Binds  «p  the  broken  heart,  and  gently  bids 
The  mourner  be  at  peace." 

AS  the  shadows  of  the  clouds  chase  the  sunshine 
on  the  hill,  so  our  life  is  alternately  chequered 
with  gleams  of  light  and  the  passing  shade. 
The  consecration  of  Patteson  to  the  new  bishop- 
ric had  been  as  a  season  of  Divine  effulgence,  a  joy 
which  made  his  heart  glow  with  a  shining  which,  hke 
the  exceeding  brightness  of  the  Apostle's  revelation, 
left  him  humbled  in  spirit.  To  him  the  solemn  service 
had  been  intensely  real,  it  had  ratified  a  call  which  he 
had  always  accepted  as  the  voice  of  God,  and  his  cup 
of  happiness  was  full  as,  in  the  midst  of  his  boys,  he 
received  the  higher  office  and  the  exercise  of  a  wider 
influence. 

But  a   trouble   was   coming,    which    should    break 
another  link  of  golden  attachment  to  his  home  love. 

8 


„^  BISHOP  PATTESON. 

Few  men  who  know  anything  of  the  sacred  and  pure 
cUnging  of  filial  love  fail  to  feel,  when  the  time  in- 
evitably draws  near,  the  keen  loss  of  a  parent.  As  we 
have  seen,  in  Patteson  the  love  of  his  mother  lay  very 
deep  in  his  heart;  her  death  was  a  wound  beyond 
human  skill  to  heal,  and  on  the  anniversary  of  her 
departure  to  the  rest  that  remaineth,  it  was  his  wont 
to  specially  cherish  her  memory  and  renew  his  grief. 
Not  less  dear  to  him  was  the  aged  man  who  had  so 
nobly  given  him  up  for  Christ  His  correspondence 
with  his  father  was  constant  and  delightful,  just  the 
kind  of  letters  which  a  son  should  write  who  feels, 
though  matured  to  man's  estate,  he  is  still  his  father's 
i<  boy." 

The  news  of  his  consecration  had  reached  home,  and 
filled  the  household  at  Feniton  with  a  thrill  of  satis- 
faction. When  the  hour  of  family  prayer  drew  on, 
although  increasing  weakness  had  compelled  him  to 
depute  this  duty  to  his  daughters.  Judge  Patteson 
insisted  for  once  upon  leading  their  devotions  himself. 
Then  we  read  how  a  strong  emotion  overcanie  him 
as  he  prayed  for  the  missionaries,  and  added  in  a 
fervour  mastering  his  feelings,  "especially  for  John 
Coleridge  Patteson,  Missionary  Bishop. 

In  truth  the  old  man  was  rapidly  breaking  up,  and 
in  his  letters  to  his  son  he  frankly  prepares  him  for 
the  probable  consequences  of  his  indisposition.  His 
son  had  written  him,  immediately  after  the  ceremony, 
a  letter  full  of  tender  feeling,  telling  him  all  about  the 
work  before  him,  and  praising  God  for  the  encourage- 
ment he  had  already  received.  But  it  seems  unlikely 
that  this  ever  reached  the  Judge,  who  was  about  the 
same  time  writing  a  letter  to  his  son  which  he  evidently 
thought  might  be  his  last.  He  describes  with  all  the 
calm  minuteness  of  his  professional  style  the  progress 
and  nature  of  his  throat  complaint,  and  adds  signi- 
ficantly, speaking  of  the  success  of  a  certain  treatment 
"  My  own  impression  is  that  it  will  not  succeed,  and 
that  it  is  highly  improbable  that  I  shall  last  very  long. 


THE  FATHERLESS  HEART. 


"5 


Then  he  refers  to  his  trust  in  the  Redeemer,  and 
very  humbly  seeks  that  fuller  peace  and  satisfaction 
which  at  the  close  of  a  long  life  he  feels  he  may  enjoy. 
His  language  is  so  simple,  his  thoughts  on  these 
increasingly  pressing  subjects  so  sincere,  that  they 
prove  again,  that  underneath  the  outer  life  with  its 
self-control  and  undemonstrative  profession  there  lies 
hidden  in  such  men,  after  all,  the  same  deep  and 
intense  simplicity  of  heart  towards  God.  Judge 
Patteson,  watching  the  nearing  shadows  of  the  valley 
and  the  gradually  receding  objects  of  time  and  sense, 
finds  strength,  peace,  and  courage  in  the  presence  of 
the  Saviour  of  men.     His  prayer  is  for  more  light. 

"As  the  time  approaches,  it  may  please  Him  in 
His  mercy  to  give  me  a  warmer  heart  and  a  more 
vivid  perception  of  all  that  He  has  done  for  me.  h 
I  were  to  say  that  \  am  not  a  sinner,'  the  truth  would 
not  be  in  me,  ar  I  am  washed  in  His  blood  and 
cleansed,  it  is  not  any  efforts  or  merits  of  my  own, 
but  by  His  unlimited  mercy  and  goodness.  Pray 
for  me,  that  when  the  time  comes  I  may  not  il, 
fears  of  death  fall  from  Him.  You  know  that  so  i, 
as  regards  this  world  and  its  enjoyments,  save  the 
love  of  my  dear  good  children,  they  have  sate  but 
lightly  upon  me  for  some  time ;  but  it  is  not  because 
we  have  nothing  that  we  are  unwilling  to  leave,  there- 
fore we  are  prepared  for  that  which  is  to  come 
Perhaps  it  may  please  God  to  give  me  still  a  short 
time  that  I  may  strive  more  strenuously  to  prep- re 
myself.  We  shall  never  meet  again  in  this  wcrtd. 
Ohl  may  Almighty  God  in  His  infinite  mercy  g  nt 
us  to  meet  again  in  His  Kingdom,  through  the  merits 
of  our  blessed  Redeemer." 

This  was  not,  however,  to  be  his  last  letter,  for  by 
the  next  mail  he  sent  another  to  his  son,  this  time 
evidently  rejoicing  in  a  blessing  of  grace  and  faith  he 
had  not  possessed  so  fully  before.  There  is  the  same 
humility  of  mind  which  we  see  again  and  again  repeated 
in  the  new  Bishop. 


;| ' 


ii6 


BISHOP  PATTESON, 


The  father  and  the  son  alike  realised  their  own 
unworthiness,  and  the  need  of  a  bountiful  supply  of 
God's  pardoning  love.  We  must  give  a  brief  extract 
from  this  further  letter  to  Patteson,  which  b<.ars  date 
"Feniton  Court,  April  24th,  1861."  He  is  speaking 
very  humbly,  with  a  trembling  faith  in  the  merits  of 
the  Saviour,— 

«•  No  other  hope  have  I ;  and,  in  all  humility,  I  from 
try  heart  feel  that  any  apparent  good  that  I  may  have 
done,  has  been  His  work  in  me,  and  not  my  own. 
May  it  please  Him  that  you  and  I,  dear  son,  may  meet 
hereafter,  together  with  all  those  blessed  ones  who 
have  already  departed  this  life  in  His  faith  and  fear,  in 
His  kingdom  above." 

The  foregoing  letters  were  written  before  the  news 
of  his  son's  consecration  had  reached  home. 

The  illness  of  the  old  Judge  grew  more  and  more 
serious,  he  could  not  now  stand  the  fatigue  of  a  service, 
but  stili  managed  to  attend  the  church  to  receive  the 
Holy  Sacrament.  The  news  from  the  other  side  of 
the  world  almost  overcame  him  ;  with  what  must  have 
been  a  shaky  hand  he  forthwith  pours  out  his  loving 
congratulations  to  his  son.  ^ 

As  these  art  the  last  words  which  it  was  Patteson  s 
privilege  to  receive  from  his  father,  no  apology  is 
necessary  for  inserting  a  few  of  them  in  this  place. 

"Oh!  my  dearest)  Right  Reverend,  well-beloved 
son,  how  I  thank  God  that  it  has  pleased  Him  to  save 
my  life  until  I  heard  of  the  actual  fact  of  your  being 
ordained  and  consecrated,  as  I  have  said  more  than 
once  since  I  heard  of  it. 

"  May  it  please  Him  to  prolong  your  life  very  many 
years,  and  to  enable  you  to  fulfil  all  those  purposes 
for  which  you  have  been  now  consecrated,  and  that 
you  may  see  the  fruit  of  your  labour  of  love  before 
He  calls  you  to  His  rest  in  heaven !  But  if  not,  may 
you  have  laid  such  foundations  for  the  spread  of  God's 
Word  throughout  the  countries  committed  to  your 
charge,  that  when  it  pleases  God  to  summon  you  hence, 


THE  FATHERLESS  HEART. 


"7 


you  may  have  a  perfect  consciousness  of  having  devoted 
all  your  time  and  labour,  and,  as  far  as  you  are 
concerned,  have  advanced  all  the  works  as  fastly  and 
as  securely  as  it  seemed  fit  to  your  great  Assistant, 
the  Ho'y  Spirit,  that  they  should  be  advanced.  Only 
conceive  that  an  old  judge  of  seventy-two,  cast  out  of 
his  own  work  by  infirmity,  should  yet  live  to  have  a 
son  in  the  Holy  Office  of  Bishop,  all  men  rejoicing 
around  him ;  and  so  indeed  they  do  rejoice  me, 
mingling  their  loving  expressions  at  my  illness  and 
approaching  death." 

A  short  time  after  penning  these  linej  the  good  old 
man  peacefully  passed  to  his  rest. 

To  Patteson  the  news  came  as  a  great  shock, 
although  he  was  prepared  for  it  somewhat  by  the 
letters  from  his  father,  quoted  above.  When  he  read 
those  words  in  which  his  father  spoke  of  his  approach- 
ing end  he  was  on  board  the  Cordelia^  and  forthwith 
wrote  a  letter  of  passionate  love,  saying  how  thoroughly 
he  was  upset  by  the  news.  "  Oh !  how  much  more 
sorrow  and  heavy  weight  is  on  my  heart  1  I  am  quite 
worn  out  and  weary.  U  will  seem  as  if  the  light  were 
taken  from  me,  as  if  it  was  no  longer  possible  to  work 
away  so  cheerily  when  I  no  longer  have  you  to  write 
to  about  it  all,  no  longer  your  approval  to  seek,  your 
notice  to  obtain."  This  was  all  true  of  him  who  wrote 
it,  and  the  death  of  his  father  left  a  mark  upon  his 
heart  anc  life  never  to  be  effaced.  He  flung  himself 
more  earnestly  into  his  work,  but  his  grief  dragged 
like  an  ever-lengthening  chain.  Brave,  true-hearted 
man,  he  who  knew  no  fear  and  had  a  lion's  courage, 
cannot  now  write  about  his  dead  father,  without  a  rain 
of  tears.  The  very  thought  of  him  is  at  once  an  in- 
spiration and  a  sorrow.  He  counts  his  words,  and 
stores  up  his  old  letters  as  sacred  th  ngs.  One  cannot 
read  without  emotion  such  express  jns  as  these  from 
one  of  his  letters  to  his  sister, — 

"  How  I  treasure  up  many,  many  of  his  words  and 
actions  1 


ill 


ii8 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


"  What  a  history  in  these  words,  '  All  times  of  the 
day  are  alike  to  me  now ;  getting  near,  I  trust,  the  time 
when  it  will  be  all  day.' 

"  Those  are  the  things  which  break  me  down.  I  see 
his  dear  face,  and  hear  him  slowly  and  calmly  saying 
such  words  of  patient  trust  and  faith,  and  it  is  too 
much.    Oh !  that  I  might  live  as  the  son  of  such  parents 

ought  to  live ! 

"  And  then  I  turn  to  the  practical  duties  again,  and 
get  lost  in  the  unceasing  languages  and  all  the  rest 

f  it  " 

And  this  is  the  record  of  the  rest  of  his  life,  a  tender- 
hearted man  brushing  away  the  rising  tear  and  work- 
ing with  unflagging  energy,  trusting  in  the  Lord  his 

His  own  health  was  beginning  to  lose  ground,  and 
he  gladly   accepted   the  offer  of  Captain   Hume,   of 
H.M.S.  Cordelia,  to  go  for  a  cruise  among  the  islands 
of  his  diocese.     The  voyage  comprised  a  visit  to  the 
Solomon   group;    the   Island   of  Ysabel,   nearly  one 
hundred   and   twenty  miles  in   length,    having    their 
special  attention.     Here  he  found,  to  his  great  satis- 
faction, that  he  was  able  to  add  a  large  number  of 
fresh  words  to  his  knowledge  of  the  native  dialects ;  a 
considerable  acquisition  to  him.     He  also  persuaded 
two  of  the  boys   to  come  on   board   and   return  as 
scholars,  but  here  he  was  doomed  to  disappointment, 
for  on  the  ship  putting  back  for   water  a    iCW   days 
afterwards,  they  gave  way  to  the  beseechings  of  their 
friends,    and  elected   to  be  left   behind.     The    rainy 
season  had  commenced,  the  Bishop   was  down  very 
soon  with  a  bad  attack  of  fever  and  ague,  and  on  his 
return  he  found  many  of  his  most  hopeful  pupils  in 
the  same  or  indeed  a  worse  condition.     It  was  a  great 
comfort,  however,  to  him  to  observe  that  one  or  two  of 
those  \/ho  succumbed  to  the  disease  died  in  full  trust 
in  the  n -rits  of  their  Saviour,  and  he  relates  how  after 
their  triumphant  death  he   went  outside  to  the  crowd 
of  Mota  natives,  and  spoke  to  them  of  Him  who   is 


THE  FATHERLESS  HEART. 


"9 


the  Resurrection  and  the  Life  Everlasting.  In  this 
island  of  Mota  the  work  of  God  was  making  substantial 
progress.  This  was  evidenced  by  many  little  changes 
in  the  manners  of  the  people,  as,  for  instance,  when 
they  came  to  their  Bishop  one  day  bringing  food,  which 
they  consumed  in  his  presence  with  the  women.  This 
was  important,  because  it  had  been  hitherto  an  esta- 
blished custom  of  their  religious  life  never  to  touch 
anything  cooked  by  a  woman. 

In  October,  a  vessel  especially  chartered  for  the 
purpose,  came  to  take  the  Bishop  and  his  party  back 
to  St.  Andrew's  College,  Kohimarama,  where  work  was 
again  taken  up  with  increase  of  scholars  and  redoubled 
spirit. 

The  avidity  to  learn  was  a  marked  feature  in  the 
Mota  lads,  as  it  had  been  in  those  from  Nengon^,  and 
the  books  were  quite  inadequate  for  the  claims  for 
instruction  made  upon  the  teachers.  Any  little  scrap 
of  paper  found  lying  upon  the  ground  with  a  few  words 
upon  it  was  eagerly  seized  upon  by  these  bright  young 
natives,  and  carried  off  as  a  treasure.  The  excellent 
order  in  the  classes,  and  the  docility  and  gratitude  of 
the  pupils  were  most  encouraging,  considering  that 
these  youths  represented  islands  where  their  relations 
and  friends  lived  a  wild  and  cruel  life,  and  had,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  Banks  group,  actually  shot  arrows  at 
the  missionaries. 

Special  attention  was  given  by  Bishop  Patteson  to 
the  work  of  translatir.°j  into  the  different  languages,  a 
task  for  which  he  had  a  special  aptitude.  At  this  time 
they  were  printing  several  works  for  the  use  of  the 
scholars,  of  which  Mr.  Dudley  gives  an  interesting  list. 
They  comprised,  "  i,  A  Scripture  History  in  the  Mota 
language  from  the  Creation,  with  a  brief  account  of  all 
the  Old  Testament  characters,  whose  histories  more 
especially  serve  as  types,  etc.,  in  illustrating  the 
Christian  teaching  to  the  time  of  our  Lord  and  His 
Apostles  ;  2,  A  full  set  of  questions  on  the  same  for  the 
use  of  teachers,  especially  those  taken  from  among  the 


120 


BISHOP  PATTESON 


\    I 


% 


first-class  scholars ;  3,  A  short  primer  containing  the 
Creed,  Lord's  Prayer,  Ten  Commandments,  and  some 
hymns,  and  one  or  two  parables  from  Holy  Scripture  ; 
4,  The  Catechism  in  full ;  also  great  numbers  of  elemen- 
tary cards,  and  others  containing  stories  suggested  by 
the  natives  themselves,  about  the  new  and  strange 
things  they  had  seen  in  New  Zealand,  the  habits  of 
the  people  there,  etc." 

With  restored  health,  Bishop  Patteson,  waiting  the 
rebuilding  of  a  new  vessel,  fairly  settled  down  again 
to  his  congenial  labour  of  instructing  and  shaping  the 
intelligence  of  his  interesting  pupils.  Ladv  Martin 
has  told  us  how  pretty  the  place  looked  wi  its  trim 
hedges,  verdant  meadows,  and  cattle  grazing  therein 
just  as  in  England.  Down  on  the  sunny  beach  the 
boys  diverted  themselves  in  their  hours  of  play,  swim- 
ming fearlessly  on  the  blue  waves,  or  going  to  and  fro 
thereon  in  their  canoes.  Everything  about  their  life 
was  free,  and  all  were  happy. 

From  another  eye-witness,  Mr,  Whytehead,  we  have 
a  charmingly  graphic  picture  of  the  college  and  its 
occupants,  showing  what  sort  of  an  attachment  existed 
between  the  Bishop  and  his  boys.  He  says,  "On 
proceeding  down  to  Kohimarama  to  join  the  vessel,  I 
found  her  moored  off  the  station,  and  preparations 
being  made  for  the  voyage.  Spars  were  being  set 
aloft,  gear  was  being  rove,  and  sails  bent.  All  day  the 
boats,  manned  by  pupils  in  charge  of  teachers,  were 
bringing  off  stores,  personal  effects,  etc.  It  was  then 
that  I  first  saw  some  of  the  natives  of  the  Western 
Pacific.  Very  intelligent-looking,  bright-eyed  little 
fellows  were  these  boys,  and  exceedingly  nice  they 
looked  in  their  loose  shirts,  straw  hats,  and  canvas 
trousers.  They  worked  heartily,  too,  and  seemed  to 
enjoy  the  bustle  of  preparation,  .no  doubt  anticipating 
the  joys  of  once  more  seeing  their  friends  and  homes, 
and  relating  the  v.'onders  they  had  beheld  in  the  white 
man's  country. 

"  The  first  time  I  saw  Bishop  Patteson  I  was  struck 


THE  FATHERLESS  HEART. 


121 


with  the  wonderful  power  of  attraction  which  he  seemed 
to  possess.  It  was  not  in  his  face  alone,  but  in  his 
whole  manner  that  this  force  was  to  be  found.  I  was 
walking  on  the  beach  one  evening  after  working  hours, 
a  day  or  two  after  joining,  when  he  came  out  of  his 
rooms,  which  formed  part  of  the  main  building  of  the 
school.  The  boys  were  all  playing  on  the  grass  before 
the  doors,  but  his  appearance  was  the  signal  for  them 
all  to  leave  off  their  various  little  amusements  and  run 
clustering  round  him.  Some  seized  his  hands,  others 
the  skirts  of  his  coat,  and  all  had  a  word  of  happiness 
at  seeing  him.  The  scene  reminded  me  of  nothing  so 
much  as  a  hen  gathering  her  chickens  under  her  wings. 
He  passed  each  arm  round  the  neck  of  one  of  the  taller 
boys,  and  with  the  rest  tripping  along  like  a  body- 
guard on  all  sides  of  him,  he  slowly  advanced  towards 
the  beach.  I  -'  od  smiling  at  the  spectacle.  The 
group  neared  m^-,  and  the  Bishop,  remarking  my  ex- 
pression, said  h  supposed  I  had  never  seen  anythmg 
of  the  kind  before.  I  confessed  that  I  had  not,  but 
that  it  was  very  delightful  to  see  such  intelligent  and 
affectionate-looking  boys.  He  asked  me  how  I  liked 
the  place,  if  things  were  comfortable  on  board  the 
vessel,  and  other  questions,  showing  that  he  took  a 
kind  and  lively  interest  in  the  comfort  and  happiness 
of  every  one  of  his  party.  It  was  this  kindness  in 
little  matters  of  detail  which  always  gained  for  Bishop 
Patteson  the  love  of  those  with  whom  he  came  in 
contact.  I  do  not  believe  that  there  was  a  man  be- 
longing to  the  ship's  company  who  would  have  hesitated 
at  anything  to  serve  the  Bishop.  He  was  thoroughly 
respected  and  looked  up  to,  and  yet  at  the  same  time 
he  was  loved  by  those  around  him  in  such  a  way  as 
few  men  ever  have  the  happiness  to  be." 

In  the  fall  of  the  year  1862,  the  Bishop  started  on 
a  cruise  in  the  Sea  Breeze  among  the  islands  comprised 
in  the  New  Hebrides  and  Solomon  groups.  This  was 
in  many  respects  an  important  voyage  ;  he  was  able 
to  open  up  communications  with  many  places  where 


laa 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


hitherto  the  natives  had  proved  inaccessible,  and  as  he 
saw  with  a  wider  vision  the  needs  of  these  poor  heathen 
his  heart  burned  with  a  greater  inspiration  for  the 
work.  The  history  of  his  missionary  cruise  abounds 
in  interesting  and  exciting  incident.  Again  we  see 
portrayed  his  cool  intrepidity  under  circumstances  of 
peril  which  would  have  naturally  unnerved  most  men. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  important  island  of  Santa 
Cruz  had  an  evil  repute  for  acts  of  cannibalism  and 
murder;  but  the  Bishop  eagerly  seized  upon  the  ad- 
vantage of  landing  at  many  places,  and  making  himself 
known  to  numbers  of  the  natives  where  his  face  had 
hitherto  been  unknown.  He  found  them  with  some 
artistic  idea  in  the  carving  of  their  arrow-heads,  which, 
however,  were  always  tipr,  '  with  some  deadly  com- 
pound which  ensured  the  death  of  the  enemy.  He 
passed  fearlessly  among  them,  made  them  presents  of 
fish-hooks,  etc.,  and  in  return,  as  an  expression  of 
goodwill  on  their  side,  they  gave  him  almonds  and 
other  food.  He  tells  us  how  one  bright-eyed  little 
fellow  took  from  his  neck  a  circlet  of  shells  and  put  it 
round  his  own,  showing  by  many  signs  and  a  few 
words  that  he  would  like  one  day  to  go  with  him  in 
the  missionary  ship.  All  this  was  a  crowning  mercy 
to  the  heart  of  Patteson.  His  first  great  aim  was  to 
win  the  confidence  of  the  natives,  to  make  them  quite 
understand  that  he  was  their  friend,  and  then,  having 
established  a  good  feeling  between  each  other,  there 
was  a  way  opened  for  giving  his  message  of  a  Saviour's 
love. 

When  he  reached  the  New  Hebrides  Islands  the 
Sea  Breeze  touched  at  several  places  where,  six  years 
before,  he  had  made  acquaintance  with  the  natives  for 
the  first  time.  One  of  these  isles,  which  had  been 
discovered  by  Captain  Cook,  was  called  the  Three 
Hills,  and  the  interior  of  it  was  the  Mai  district,  from 
which  Patteson  had  already  drawn  some  promising 
boys.  Here  he  was  once  more  recognised  and 
welcomed    by    old    friends,    and    he     made    special 


THE  FATHERLESS  HEART. 


"3 


inquiries  after  two  men  who  had  spent  a  short  time 
at  his  college  in  New  Zealand.     About  one  of  them 
there  was  evidently  bad  news  which  the  natives  were 
reluctant  to  communicate,  and  at  last   Patteson   was 
told  that  Peters  had  died  of  dysentery.    Still,  as  the 
Bishop  moved  into  the  interior  surrounded  by  a  crowd, 
there  was  manifestly  something  wrong,  and  the  conduct 
of  the  men  was,  if  not  unfriendly,  decidedly  suspicious. 
The  welcome  on  the  beach  was  sinking  into  coolness 
and  avoidance.     At  last  one  of  them,  a  man  \yho  had 
been  a  former  scholar  of  the  Bishop,  told  him  that 
knowing   how  much   he   loved  Peterd,  they  had   not 
told  the  whole  truth,  his  old  pupil  had  been  killed  by 
the  white  men,  shot  in  the  head  by  a  man  in  a  ship. 
The  greatest  excitement  prevailed  among  the  people, 
and    doubtless    not    a    few   made   up   their  mind  to 
avenge    Petere's   death.      After    many    full  inquiries 
Patteson  returned  to  the  boat,  where   his   two   com- 
panions, Mr.  DuHley  and  Wakrokala,  waited  his  arrival 
with  nervous  expectation.      Just  as  they  were  ready  to 
push  oT  a  number  of  men  were  seen  armed  with  bows 
and  arrows  standing  in  a  menacing  attitude  on  the  reef, 
but   presently  some  of  those  to  whom  Patteson  had 
been  speaking  hastened  to,  them,  giving  away  "  Kava," 
that  is  the  leaves  of  the  pepper  plant,  and  at  this  signal 
they  changed  their  manner  at  once.     Thus  the   boat 
was  allowed   to  pass  away   unharmed,  but  Patteson 
explained  on  their  return  that  their  only  safety  lay  in 
the  fact  that  they  were  known  and  respected,  for  if  any 
white  stranger  had  appeared  under  such  circumstances 
he  would  have  been  immediately  sacrificed  in  revenge 
for  the  murder  of  poor  Petere.     How  little    Patteson 
thought  at  this  moment  that  he  was  forecasting  his 
own  martvrdom ! 

On  the  north  side  of  Santa  Cruz  is  a  fine  harbour, 
called  Graciosa  Bay,  where  the  Spanish  colonists 
under  Mendana  cast  anchor.  From  the  time  of  their 
unsuccessful  effort  to  settle  there,  three  hundred  years 
before,  to  this  moment,  no  Europeans   seem   to   have 


•M 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


effected  a  landing,  and  here  Patteson  waded  to  land 
through  the  surf,  and  accepted  their  invitation  to  visit 
their  habitations.  He  met  with  a  cordial  welcome, 
almost  boisterously  so,  from  the  natives  of  Vanikoro, 
big  fellows  they  were ;  "  no  men  have  I  ever  seen  so 
large,"  he  says,  "  huge  Patagonian  limbs  and  great 
heavy  hands  clutching  up  my  little  weak  arms  and 
shoulders.  Yet  it  is  not  a  sensation  of  fear,  but  simply 
of  powerlessness,  and  it  makes  me  think,  as  I  do  when 
among  them,  of  another  Power  present  to  protect  and 
defend." 

He  is  now  in  the  full  earnest  of  his  labour,  wishing 
that  it  could  be  possible  for  him  to  be  in  fifty  places  at 
once,  so  that  the  Gospel  might  be  introduced  more 
speedily  among  these  teeming  thousands  of  heathen. 
That  God  will  send  some  good  men  and  true  to  help  or 
succeed  him  he  does  not  seem  for  one  moment  to 
doubt ;  but  in  some  of  his  letters  he  warns  otf  any 
who  have  not  the  physical  fitness  for  the  work.  This, 
he  says,  is  the  question  perpetually  before  his  mind  : 
"  By  what  means  will  God  provide  for  the  introduction 
of  Christianity  into  these  islands  ?  " 

He  is  speaking  of  one  of  these  islands  stretching 
away  for  sixty  miles,  a  field  waiting  the  sower, — 

"I  know  that  hundreds  are  living  there  ignorant 
of  God,  wild  men,  cannibals  addicted  to  every  vice. 
I  know  that  Christ  died  for  them,  and  that  the 
message  is  for  them  too.  How  am  I  to  deliver  it  ? 
How  find  an  entrance  among  them?  How,  when  1 
have  learned  their  language,  speak  to  them  of  religion 
so  as  not  to  introduce  unnecessary  obstacles  to  the 
reception  of  it  nor  compromise  any  of  its  commands  ? 

"Thank  God,  I  can  fall  back  upon  many  solid 
points  of  comfort.  Chiefest  of  all.  He  sees  and  knows 
it  all  perfectly.  He  sees  the  islands  too,  and  loves 
them;  how  infinitely  more  than  I  can!  He  desires 
to  save  them.  He  is,  I  trust,  sexrding  me  to  them. 
He  will  bless  the  lowest  endeavouis  to  do  His  will 
among  them.      And  1  think  how  it  must  all  appear 


HE  FELL  ON   HIS  KNEES   AND  PRAYED. 


126 


BISHOP  PA  TIE  SON. 


III! 


to  angels  and  saints,  how  differently  they  see  these 
things.  Already,  to  their  eyes,  the  light  is  breaking 
forth  in  Melanesia,  and  I  take  great  comfort  from  this 
thought,  and  remember  that  it  does  not  matter  whether 
it  is  in  my  time,  only  I  must  work  on.  And  then  I 
think  of  the  prayers  of  the  Church  ascending  con- 
tinually for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen,  and  I  know 
that  many  of  you  are  praying  specially  for  the  heathen 
of  Melanesia.  And  so  one's  thoughts  float  to  India 
and  China,  and  Japan  and  Africa,  and  the  islands  of 
the  sea,  and  the  very  vastness  of  the  work  raises  one's 
thoughts  to  God,  as  the  only  One  by  whom  it  must  be 
done." 

Undoubtedly,  in  some  cases,  he  only  narrowly 
escaped  with  his  life. 

One  day,  in  conversation  with  the  Bishop  of  New- 
castle, Patteson  told  him  the  history  of  one  of  these 
trying  moments.  He  had  been  visiting  an  island  for 
the  second  time,  and  on  landing  freely  placed  himself 
under  the  guidance  of  some  natives  who  promised  to 
take  him  to  the  chief's  house.  On  the  way,  however, 
he  gathered  from  their  conversation  and  gestures  that 
they  intended  to  take  his  life. 

He  was  entirely  at  their  mercy,  and  humanly  speak- 
ing there  was  no  possible  escape  for  him.  He  felt, 
however,  that  even  there  he  was  not  alone,  and  re- 
solved to  commit  himself  to  the  care  of  Him  in  whose 
service  and  name  he  had  placed  himself  in  such 
jeopardy. 

Begging  permission  to  go  for  a  little  while  to  the 
shelter  of  a  hut  from  the  intense  heat  of  the  sun,  he 
fell  on  his  knees,  and  feeling  his  end  near  prayed 
earnestly  for  the  souls  of  these  poor  benighted  people. 
He  asked  that  if  it  were  p  .ssible  his  liie  might  be 
spared,  but  commended  hit  soul  to  the  will  of  the 
Almighty.  Possibly  not  one  word  of  this  earnest  and 
pathetic  prayer  was  understood  by  the  natives,  but 
when  he  rose  and  told  them  he  was  ready,  there  was 
a  look  in  his  face  which  touched  and  awed  them,  and 


THE  FATHERLESS  HEART, 


I  a; 


with  great  courtesy  they  conducted  him  safely  back  to 
his  boat,  and  bade  him  good-bye. 

A  remark  he  overheard  made  clear  what  had  been 
the  cause  of  their  conduct.  ''He  does  not  look  like 
a  murderer,"  they  said  ;  "he  cannot  have  been  a  party 
to  our  brother's  death,  therefore  we  will  not  hurt  him. 

In  the  March  of  1863  there  was  great  rejoicmg  at 
the  Melanesian  College  in  consequence  of  the  arrival 
from  England  of  the  new  missionary  ship,  the  Southern 
Cross.  Patteson  is  full  of  thanksgiving  to  God  and 
the  kind  friends  at  home  who  had  been  the  means  of 
fitting  out  this  successor  to  the  old  vessel.  She  seems 
to  have  had  admirable  sea-going  qualities,  and  was 
destined  to  become  of  the  greatest  service  in  the 
work.  The  Bishop  and  his  boys  hailed  her  appearance 
in  the  harboar  with  joy,  and  the  radiance  of  this  new 
blessing  filled  with   sunshine  their  new  home  at  St. 

Andrew's. 

But  God  had  another  experience  before  them ;  His 

providence  was  to  cast  a  shade  of  suffering  and  trouble 

over   the  place  and    its    inmates.      An   epidemic   of 

dysentery  fell  on  the  young  Melanesians,  and  the  hall 

of  the  college  had  to  be  transformed  into  a  hospital. 

This  affliction  was  distressing,  and  tried  the  faith  and 

patience  of  Patteson  and  his  fellow-helpers.     We  have 

seen  how,  on  a  previous  occasion,  he  could  with  such 

fidelity  and  tenderness  act  the  part  of  a  nurse  to  the 

sick,  and  now  he  absolutely  spent  himself  night  and 

day  in  watching,  tending,  and  doing  services,  however 

repulsive,  for  his  dear  sick  boys.     Death  after  death 

occurred,  and  it  was  the  hands  of  the  Bishop  which 

prepar.A    the   bodies    for   the  grave   and   afterwards 

carried  them   out  to  burial.     He   wrote  a  brief  and 

touching   set   of   prayers   to  be   used  m   the    Burial 

Service,  and  whenever  warranted  he  baptized  the  poor 

fellows  before  they  passed  into  eternity. 

Of  all  these  labours  and  distresses  we  find  no  com- 
plaining in  his  letters  home;  a  noble  self-repression 
as  to  his  part  in  the  sad  experience,  plenty  of  praise  of 


m 


ia8 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


his  fellow-helpers,  and  thanksgiving  and  glory  to  God 
for  the  faithful  witnessing  of  those  blessed  dead  who 
had  died  in  the  Lord.  Although  Patteson  escaped  the 
contagion  which  was  all  around,  it  greatly  reduced  his 
strength.  He  speaks  of  being  too  worn  out  to  kneel 
and  pray,  though  surely  all  his  work  was  worship  and 
his  labour  Divine. 

But  God  had  deeper  lessons  in  store  for  Patteson  to 
learn :  such  moulding  of  the  spirit  as  is  only  possible 
when  the  heart  is  softened  and  subdued  by  severest 
trial.  To  see  his  native  boys  suffering  called  forth 
his  tenderest  solicitude ;  then  the  whole  affliction  was 
a  trial  of  his  own  faith,  which  like  gold  came  out  of 
the  fiery  trial  clear  and  shining.  A  sense  of  his  own 
unworthiness  seemed  ever  present  with  him,  and  with 
it  a  knowledge  beyond  the  reach  of  a  tinge  of  doubt 
that  God  stood  by  him,  helping,  strengthening,  teach- 
ing His  servant,  and  otherwise  supplying  all  his  need. 

In  the  very  midst  of  the  darkest  hour,  too,  there 
arose  a  light  of  encouragement  and  comfort  in  seeing 
the  faith  and  resignation  of  these  young  disciples  of 
the  Lord,  whom  he  had  been  permitted  to  lead  unto 

Him.  . 

It  was  indeed  to  the  whole  Mission  a  baptism  ot 
fire,  a  cleansing  and  consecrating  experience  which 
brought  out  the  finest  qualities  of  the  workers,  the 
patient  endurance  of  the  sick,  and  the  spiritual  advance- 
ment of  them  all.  When  the  severer  symptoms  began 
to  abate,  and  to  the  poor  haggard  faces  and  wistful 
eyes  there  came  a  gleam  of  strength  and  improvement, 
the  heart  of  the  Bishop  knew  a  fresh  joy,  and  praised 
God, 


^"^^ 


^^ 


CHAPTER    IX. 


FIRST    FRUITS    IN    EARTH    AND    HEAVEN. 


"  Flow  on,  O  Stream  of  Life ! 
Here  by  sweet  primrose  banks  thy  ripples  glide, 
There  through  dark  gorges  swirls  thy  rushing  tide. 
Now  calm,  now  dashed  with  strife. 

"  O  Christ,  my  life  is  Thine  ! 
These  quickening  waves  one  day  will  reach  the  sea, 
A  touch  of  shock  and  then  eternity. 
The  deeps  of  Love  Divine." 

THE  necessity  for  a  complete  change  and  rest  at 
last  forced  itself  upon  Patteson,  and  so  in  the 
following  February  we  find  him  on  board  a  mail 
steamer  going  to  Sydney.  In  his  amusing  way 
he  draws  a  picture  of  the  Bishop  of  Melanesia  reclining 
on  soft  sofas  in  die  state  cabin,  being  fed  and  waited 
upon  with  the  greatest  care  and  respect.  Quite  a 
strange  experience  for  a  man  who  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  "  roughing  it "  .^t  sea  and  on  shore,  whose 
companions  had  been  naked  savages,  and  their  huts 
his  dwelling-place. 


»30 


BISHOP  PATTESON, 


'   i 


After  beifiR  so  long  away  from  the  civilised  towns 
he  feels  himself  scarcely  at  home  as,  reaching  Mel- 
bourne, he  walks  the  crowded  streets.  He  had  been 
accustomed  to  cordialities  expressed  by  cocoanuts  and 
yams  presented  by  black  hands  on  the  coral  beach, 
but  here  he  gets  back  to  something  of  the  old  London 
environment,  a'  '  is  somewhat  embarrassed.  His 
quick  discernmc.  .  soon  disgusts  him  with  the  make- 
believe  manners  of  some  in  the  society  in  which  he 
now  finds  himself.  "It  is  the  vulgar,  uneducated 
fellow  that  beats  me.  The  Melanesians,  laugh  as  you 
may  at  it,  are  naturallv  gentlemanly  and  courteous  and 
well-bred.  1  never  saw  a  '  gent '  in  Melanesia,  though 
not  a  few  down-right  savages.  I  vastly  prefer  the 
savage."  In  this  observation  the  reader  will  heartily 
concur. 

His   visit  to  Australia  was,  however,  designed  •  a 
double  debt  to  pay,"  to  not  only  recruit  his  lordship's 
health,  but   bring   funds  to  the  inadequate  exchequer 
of  the  Mission.     Of  course  everywhere  he  went  the 
interest    of   th*-   islands   lay   deep   in    his   heart,    but 
Fatteson   couiu    not   bring   his   mind   to   beg   for   his 
people.      He  told  the  plain  truth  about  the  work,  gave 
incidents  of  his  own   experience,  and  explained  the 
simple  and  efllctive  plan  of  operation.     This  greatly 
commended  itself  to  the  hard-headed  business  colonists, 
who  were  quite  ready  to  help  forward  an  enterprise 
which  aimed  at  and  achieved  really  practical  results. 
Thus  at  Adelaide  the  interest  excited  in  his  services 
produced  offerings  amounting  to  ;^250,  and  at  Victoria 
the  sum  of  £l^o  was  speedily  raised.      The  meetings 
everywhere  were  crowded  to  excess  ;  a  special  feature 
was  the  presence  of  so  many  children,  to  whom   the 
speeches  of  the  Bishop  were  delightful.     In  the  hearts 
of  the  young  listeners  he  scattered  the  seeds  of  an 
earnest  and   abiding  attachment  to  the  work  of  the 
Gospel  among  the  poor  benighted  islanders. 

One  point  he  especially  enforced  upon  his  hearers 
wherever  he  went,  that  was  to  demonstrate  the  intel- 


FmST  FRUITS  IN  EARTH  AND  HEAVEN,  iji 

ligence  and  sterling  qualities  of  these  Melanesians, 
and  explode  those  lingering  fallacies  about  the  in- 
feriority and  hopeless  character  of  the  black  races. 
Never  had  the  dark-skinned  brother  such  a  friend  ! 
His  sermons,  generally  delivered  extempore  for  want 
of  time  to  prepare,  were  earnest  and  devout. 

Though  Patteson  was  not  specially  qualified  for 
either  pulpit  or  platform  work,  his  downright  and 
intense  wholehjartedncss  held  the  attention  and  stirred 
the  hearts  of  the  audience.  "  1  did  feel  it  a  blessing," 
he  tells  us,  "and  a  privilege  too,  to  stand  up  there  and 
speak  out,  and  I  did  speak  out,  and  told  them  their 
plain  duties,  not  appealing  to  feelings  but  aiming  at 
convincing  their  judgment.  I  told  1,500  people  in 
church  at  Sydney,  '  1  speak  as  unto  wise  men,  judge  ye 
what  I  say.' "  Thus  appealed  to,  the  men  of  wisdom 
responded,  as  we  have  seen,  with  liberal  offerings,  and 
a  new  branch  establishment  was  formed  on  Curtis 
Island  off  the  Queensland  coast. 

When  Patteson  returned  to  his  work  his  strength  was 
renewed,  and  he  gladly  rejoined  his  old  companions; 
but  it  was  evident  that  he  had  overtaxed  himself  in 
tliose  previous  years  of  work,  for  he  complains  of 
feeling  much  older  and  having  lost  some  of  his  spring. 
After  a  short  stay  at  his  college,  Fatteson  started  again 
in  the  Southern  Cross  for  a  cruise  among  the  islands. 
He  revisited  Mota,  and  found  the  ravages  of  the 
heathen  and  of  the  epidemic  of  dysentery  had  wrought 
much  mischief  in  the  little  mission  settlement  he  had 
formed  there. 

At  Tariko  the  Bishop  and  his  party  had  a  narrow 
escape.  They  had  landed  Patteson,  and  as  usual 
remained  a  little  from  the  shore  in  the  boat,  while  he 
talked  to  the  people  and  purchased  their  yams.  It 
soon  appeared,  however,  that  unconsciously  he  had 
taken  his  position  on  a  piece  of  neutral  ground  which 
divided  two  hostile  parties.  1  d  as  a  result  was  soon 
in  the  midst  of  the  fray.  The  arrows  flew  fast  in 
dangeious    proximity    to    him,    and   when   he   turned 


1 


II: 


,„  bishop' rATlF.SON. 

round  to  return  to  .ho  "oa',  one  of  them  «^s  ^nt 

1^:Z^  4'^^^,  t.^«eln--"n%rL.  perU 

°'  SS  own  account  of  the  incident  shows  what  need 
he  f2t  there  wt:  for  nerve_aud  steadiness  under  the 

tree,  and  the   basUt  too  ^^^^^  ^  ^^^^^ 

rwaitei'-rn  reach  and  Wj.ded  to  the^^^^^^ 

shooting  going  on  f,-™lf„„'toth  sides  of  me 
shooting  at  me,  J^'/f  '^J?  f  ,„  ,  well  out  of  it.  1 
a.  "t°fH^i  who  preslrles  from  'the  arrow  that 
SVaaTa^He^L  so  mercifully  preserved  so 

■"^rfr/mo!?urrih,;':Sn:>owever,  was  enacted  at 
<;,Lcrr  where  Patteson  landed  on  the  .5th  August 
Ihe  na.™;  w'Se  very  Berce,  and  on  a  prev,ou-,s 

"■'^   ^ntiofsT  refan-'e^nrnTe  heT^    Tf  the 
Scr Td  danlerous  chara..  of  the^^^^^^^^^^^ 

S^io-o^thS  ^.&|-- -°o?; 

spirit.     All  seemea  "-^  s  -rrows  was  shot  from 

,0  the  ^-^,^^X^^^^i:l^rLn,  holding  the 
the  shore.  Th^  P  f  °„P„"rd  off  the  murderous  shafts, 
rudder  ur  =  ^.f^?'„  ,„„sB«d  at  the  bottom  of  the 
LT- -»■  :.  ioigHuches,  another  had  entered 


FIRST  FRUITS  IN  EARTH  AND  HEA  VEN.  133 

the  cheek  of  his  companion  Hobbs,  and  a  third  pierced 
the  wrist  of  the  other  man,  Young.  It  was  a  critical 
moment,  and  scarcely  a  chance  seemed  to  exist  of  any 
of  the  party  escaping  alive.  As  soon  as  they  gained 
the  schooner,  chased  to  its  side  by  the  canoes  of  the 
natives,  the  Bishop  lost  no  time  in  attending  to  the 
urgent  need  of  his  wounded  comrades.       Fortunately 


TATTOOED   NATIVE  AND   CLLIiS. 


the  arrows  were  not  poisoned,  so  this  dreadful  element 
of  danger  had  not  to  be  considered,  but  the  con- 
sequences were  no  less  serious.  He  withdrew  the  one 
wliich  was  still  sticking  in  the  breast  of  Pearce,  who 
eventually  recovered,  though  by  a  miracle.  A  far 
more  difficult  case  was  the  extraction  of  the  arrow 
head  from  the  wrist  of  the  other  man  ;  failing  to  get 
it  back  by  ordinary  means,  Patteson  had  to  lay  hold 


134 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


of  its  point  on  the  other  side  and  pull  it  through  the 

arm. 

His  worst  fears  were  soon  realised,  for  lockjaw  began 
to  set  in.  What  followed  ca  ■  never  be  told  in  words 
more  simple  in  their  tragic  pathos  and  tenderness  than 
those  in  which  Patteson  records  the  incident  to  his 
sister,  "Then  my  heart  sank  down  within  me,  and 
I  prayed  earnestly  to  God.  I  talked  to  the  dear  lad 
of  his  danger,  night  and  day  we  prayed  and  read. 
A  dear  guileless  spirit  indeed.  I  never  saw  in  so  young 
a  person  such  a  thorough  conscientiousness  as  for  two 
years  I  witnessed  in  his  daily  life,  and  I  had  long  not 
only  loved  but  respected  him. 

"  We  had  calm  weather  and  could  not  get  on.  By 
Saturday  the  jaws  were  tight  locked.  Then  more 
intense  grew  the  pain,  the  agony— the  whole  body 
rigid  like  a  bar  of  iron.  Oh  !  how  I  blessed  God  who 
carried  me  through  that  day  and  night.  How  good 
he  was  in  his  very  agoniej,  in  his  fearful  spasms, 
thanking  God,  praying,  pressing  my  hands  when  I 
prayed     and     comforted     him    with     holy    words    of 

Scripture. 

"  None  but  a  well-disciplined,  humble,  simple  Chris- 
tian could  so  have  borne  his  sufferings ;  the  habit  of 
obedience,  faith,  and  patience,  the  childlike  unhesitat- 
ing trust  in  God's  love  and  fatherly  care,  supported 
him  now.  He  never  for  a  moment  lost  his  hold  upon 
God.  What  a  lesson  it  was;  it  calmed  us  all.  It 
almost  awed  one  to  see  in  so  young  a  lad  so  great  an 
instance  of  God's  infinite  power,  so  great  a  work  of 
good  perfected  in  one  young  enough  to  have  been  con- 
firmed by  me. 

"  At  I  a.m.  (Monday)  I  moved  from  his  side  to  my 
couch,  only  three  yards  off.  Of  course  we  were  all 
(I  need  not  say)  in  the  after  cabin.  He  said 
faintly,  '  Kiss  me.  I  am  very  glad  that  I  was  doing 
my  duty:   tell  my   father  that  I   was  in  the  path  of 


duty,    and 
people  1 ' 


he   will   be   so   glad.      Poor    Santa   Cruz 


FJRST  FRUITS  IN  EARTH  AND  HE  A  VEN.   135 

" '  Ah,  my  dear  boy,  you  w'U  do  more  for  their  con- 
version by  your  death  than  ever  we  shall  do  by  our 
lives  ! '  and  as  I  lay  down,  almost  convulsed  with  sobs, 
though  not  audible,  he  said  (so  Mr.  Nihill  afterwards 
told  me),  '  Poor  Bishop  ! '     How  full  his  head  was  of 
love  and  peace  and  thoughts  of  heaven  1     '  O  what 
love,'  he  said.     The  last  night  when  I  left  him  for  an 
hour  or  two  at  l  a.m.,  only  to  lie  down  in  my  clothes 
at  his  side,  he  said  faintly  (his  body  being  then  rigid 
as  a  bar  of  iron)   '  Kiss  me,  Bishop.'     At  4  a.m.  he 
started  as  from  a  trance ;  he  had  been  wandering  a 
good  deal,  but  all  his  words  even  then  were  of  things 
pure  and  holy.     His  eyes  met  mine,  and  I  saw  the 
consciousness  gradually  moving  back  into  them.    '  They 
never    stop   singing    there,   sir,   do   they?'— for    his 
thoughts  were  with  the  angels  cf  heaven.     Then,  after 
a  short  time,  the  last  terrible  struggle,  and  then  he  fell 
asleep.     And  remember  all  this  in  the  midst  of  that 
most  agonising,  it  may  be,  of  all  forms  of  death.     At 
4  a.m.  he  was  hardly  "onscious,  not  fully  conscious, 
there  were  some  fearf. '    pasms ;  we  fanned   him  and 
bathed  his  head,  and  occasionally  got  a  drop  or  two 
of  weak  brandy  and  water  down.      Then   came   the 
last  struggle.      Oh!    how    I    thanked   God   when    his 
head  at  length  fell  b.ick,  or  rather  his  whole  body,  for 
it  was  without  joint,  on  my  arm ;   long-drawn    sighs, 
with  still  sadder  contraction  of  features,  succeeded,  and 
while    I    said   the   commendatory   prayer    he    passed 

away." 

The  death  of  this  young  fellow,  his  son  in  the  Gospel, 
was  one  of  the  greatest  troubles  which  befell  the  heart 
of  Pattcson.  He  loved  the  boy  with  an  intense  aftec- 
tion;  and  when  he  returned  to  his  old  quarters  at 
Kohimarama,  everything  reminded  him  of  the  beloved 
dead,  and  his  heart  was  well-nigh  broken. 

In  the  summer  of  1865  the  Bishop  visits  Mota  again, 
and  works  hard  to  carry  out  his  cherished  idea  of 
founding  on  the  island  a  Christian  village.  The 
people  were  curious   but   friendly,  and   his   excellent 


I 


13* 


BIS' 


PA  TTESON. 


\    \ 


I      i 


coadjutor,  Mr.  Palmer,  had  done  good  service  in  his 
absence.  Well  disposed  to  listen,  the  natives  gave 
Patteson  little  trouble  in  obtaining  lads  to  go  back 
with  him  to  New  Zealand ;  but  he  saw  that  it  would 
be  expedient  to  take  some  of  the  girls  this  time,  so  that 
when  his  scholars  returned  to  the  island  they  would 
not  have  to  marry  a  heathen  wife. 

Certainly  this  place  seems  to  have  been  rich  in 
tropical  beauty,  and  the  eye  which,  with  its  fine  sense 
of  loveliness,  enjoyed  so  much  the  masterpieces  of  the 
Italian  galleries,  was  constantly  delighted  in  the  midst 
of  these  scenes  of  natural  magnificence.  The  cathedral 
of  his  episcopate  was  seen  in  the  columns  of  the 
glorious  palms  with  their  gracefully  waving  fringe 
overhead,  the  trailing  creepers,  the  lustrous  flowers, 
among  which  flew  birds  of  surpassing  plumage, 
filling  the  air  with  their  songs,  while  close  by 
boomed  the  diapason  of  the  sea  as  it  fell  on  the  coral 

shore. 

We  have  a  picture  of  the  Bishop  as  he  lived  in,  what 
to  him,  was  luxury  indeed.  The  tent  is  old  and  out 
of  repair,  and  only  really  weather-tight  in  one  portion. 
The  meals  of  his  party  are  somewhat  disturbed  by 
having  to  chase  a  number  of  lizards,  which  have  a 
habit  of  crowding  on  the  roof  and  dropping  down  on 
the  table.  Fruit,  and  that  of  a  quality  to  vie  with 
our  best  hot-house  specimens,  forms  their  principal 
diet.  The  natives  stand  round  in  a  crowd,  marvelling 
as  they  see  the  Bishop,  dressed  in  an  old  flannel  shirt 
and  trousers,  writing  those  scraps  of  paper  \yhich  have 
preserved  for  us  the  precious  records  of  his  life  and 
work. 

Soon  he  lays  down  his  pen,  and  standing  under 
the  shade  of  a  large  banyan-tree  tells  them  of  a  God 
who  in  His  love  has  made  all  things  beautiful,  and 
wants  them  to  love  Him  with  all  their  hearts.  Then 
he  asks  them  questions,  and  here  is  revealed  more 
and  more  the  density  of  their  ignorance,  and  even  m 
those  who  have  been  influenced  by  the  Gospel  there 


^ 


il 


TREE-HOUSES   IN   THE   ISLAND    OK   YSABEL. 


'  ■  I 
'i 


138 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


m 


is  need  cf  a  teaching  of  a  deeper  kind.  They  tell  him 
that  no  longer  do  they  fight,  they  have  ceased  to  be 
quarrelsome,  they  do  not  steal  anything  like  what  they 
used  to  do.  "  We  are  all  right  now,"  is  their  confident 
remark. 

"Are  you  ?  I  never  taught  you  to  think  so.  You 
tell  me  that  you  believe  that  the  Son  of  God  came 
down  from  heaven.  What  did  He  come  for?  What 
is  the  meaning  of  what  you  say,  that  He  died  for 
us?" 

Thus  the  Bishop  searchingly  examined  them.  He 
was,  not  the  man  to  be  satisfied  with  a  superficial  gloss, 
which  means  no  real  work  of  God  within.  It  was  this 
thoroughness  which,  in  no  haste  for  results,  but  seek- 
ing rather  that  the  foundations  should  be  well  and 
truly  laid,  marked  the  value  of  Patteson's  labour  among 
the  heathen. 

Neither  did  he  forget  the  deepening  of  his  own 
spiritual  experience.  In  addition  to  the  Word  of  God, 
his  constant  study  and  stay,  he  never  went  about 
without  some  book  which  might  refresh  his  spirits. 
Here,  in  Mota,  we  find  him  closing  the  weary  day 
with  a  quiet  chapter  from  Vaughan  on  the  Revelation ; 
at  other  times  we  find  Newman's  Sermons  in  his  hand; 
and,  like  most  heroes  of  the  faith,  a  little  volume  of 
Thomas  5l  Kem.pis  was  indeed  a  means  of  frequent  and 
sweet  communion.  In  relation  to  this  latter  book,  it 
is  recorded  in  one  of  his  letters  with  what  peculiar  joy 
he  received  from  the  sister  of  Bishop  Mackenzie  his 
copy  of  the  "  Imitation,"  blotted  with  the  waves  of  the 
Shire  in  Central  Africa,  where  he  spent  himself  in  his 
Master's  service.  With  the  saintly  author  of  the 
Christian  Year  he  was  on  intimate  terms,  and  in  many 
of  his  letters  we  find  how  again  and  again  those  songs 
of  Zion  were  sung  by  Patteson  while  far  away  in  a 
strange  land. 

He  had  his  favourite  books,  therefore,  and  some  of 
theiii  seemed  strange  in  the  mic^st  of  such  scenes. 
Thus   he  tells  us  how  delighted   he   is  with  "Tom 


FIRST  FRUITS  IN  EARTH  AND  HEAVEN  139 

Brown's  School-days,"  which,  somehow  or  other,  has 
reached  his  hands,  and  brings  back  his  Eton  days 
very  vividly.  "What  a  useful  book  that  is!"  he 
says;  "a  real  gain  to  a  young  person  to  have 
such  a  book.  That  is  very  much  the  kind  of  thing 
that  would  really  help  a  boy— manly,  true,  and 
plain."  ,     „.  . 

During  his  visit  to  the  Solomon  Islands,  the  Bishop 
and  his  party  landed  at  Bauro,  and  made  their  first 
acquaintance   with    the    curious    tree-houses    of    the 
natives.       It    appears    that,   some   years   previously, 
there  had  been  a  war  between  the  Ysabel   Islanders 
and  another  tribe  ;   and,  as  an  act  of  vengeance,  the 
inhabitants  of  this  district  were  almost  killed   to  a 
man.     The  few  who  had  managed  to  elude  massacre 
by  hiding  away  in  the  bush  crept  forth  to  find  deso- 
lation and  ruin.     They  therefore  began  to  build  their 
houses  in  the  tallest  trees,  ascending  thereto  by  long 
ladders,  sometimes  reaching  over  sixty  feet  from  the 
ground.      Up   these  dangerous  and  uncertain  means 
of  approach   the    natives  ran   with    ease,   a    woman 
heavily   laden    climbing  carelessly  up   without    even 
attempting  to  steady  herself  with  her  hands.     Patteson 
declined  to  attempt  the  experiment.     "  I  can't  go  up 
there.     I  am  neither  bird  nor  bat,  and  I  have  no  wings 
if  I  fall,"  said  he. 

After  careful  consultation,  the  headquarters  of  the 
?1ission  were  removed  to  Norfolk  Island,  and  soon 
the  establishment  was  sufiicient  to  house  a  hundred 
Melanesians.  On  the  transfer  of  St.  Andrew's  to 
this  place,  a  new  name  was  resolved  upon,  and  hence- 
forth the  Norfolk  Island  building  was  known  as  St. 
Barnabas'  Mission  School. 

The  consolidation  of  the  work  here  is  a  history  full 
of  interesting  incident;  and  the  heart  of  Patteson 
was  much  cheered  by  the  growing  success  of  the  mis- 
sion. From  here,  however,  some  of  his  native  converts 
exchanged  earth  for  heaven. 

One  of  these,  Walter  Hotaswol,  rapidly  weakened 


140 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


by  consumption,  entered  into  his  rest  on  the  eve  of 
the  Epiphany,  1868. 

A  simple-hearted,  blameless  youth,  he  was  very  dear 
to  the  heart  of  the  Bishop,  and  gave  good  evidence  of 
being  a  true  disciple  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  One 
day  after  he  had  received  the  sacrament  for  the  first 
time,  he  seemed  lost  in  thought  as  tl;e  Disliop  sat  by 
his  side.     Presently  he  said,— 

"  Very  good." 

"  What  is  very  good,  Walter  ?  " 

"  The  Lord's  Supper." 

"  Why  do  you  think  so  ?  " 

"  I  can't  talk  about  it.  I  feel  it  here  "  (touching  his 
heart).     "  I  don't  feel  as  I  did." 

"  But  you  have  long  believed  in  Him  ?" 

"Yes,  but  I  feel  different  from  that;  I  don't  feel 
afraid  of  death.  My  heart  is  calm"  {me  masur  kal, 
of  a  calm  following  a  gale).  "  1  do  believe  that  I  am 
going  to  Him." 

Then,  after  a  pause,  he  said  earnestly,  "Bishop, 
last  night,  on  the  night  before  I  received  the  Lord's 
Supper,  I  saw  a  man  standing  there,  a  tanum  liana " 
(a  man  of  rank  or  authority).  "  He  said,  '  Your  breath 
is  bad;  I  will  give  you  a  new  breath.'  I  thought  it 
meant,  *  I  will  give  you  a  new  life.'     1  thought  it  must 

be  Jesus." 

Doubtless  it  was.  The  last  words  of  this  young 
disciple  were,  "  Better  to  die  here  with  a  bright  heart 
than  to  live  in  my  old  home  with  a  dark  one." 

A  lingering  attack  of  fever  among  the  new  colony 
on  Norfolk  Island  once  more  engrossed  the  Bishop's 
attention.  This  illness  assumed  the  more  dangerous 
form  of  typhus,  and  was  believed  to  have  been  carried 
to  the  island  by  some  infected  vessel.  Here  he  had 
the  advantage  of  the  skilful  assistance  of  Mr.  Hobbs, 
who  on  a  subsequent  occasion  treated  Patteson  when 
prostrate  with  sudden  illness ;  the  labour  of  watching 
and  applying  remedies  was  incessant,  the  cheerful 
presence  of  the  Bishop  being  everywhere  felt. 


FIRST  FRUITS  IN  EARTH  AND  HEA  VEN  ^^^ 

It  is  a  sicnificant  remark  which  occurs  in  a  letter  from 
Mr  Sdri  Son  at  this  time,  that  "  It  is  a  characteristic 
^/bSop  Patteson  that  1  never  heard  him  s  J,  a  word 
that  I  remember  of  religion  to  one  of  the  sick.  Ut 
such  thfnTs  he  would  not?  unless  he  was  obhged,  speak 

-5t^r^Ed"In^i^^^^^^   of.tha.   dd.acy^f 

\l      rminJ    eirnest     helpful    word    ready    to    utter 
it/rfsionTema'nded.^  have  abundant  evidence 

^'?att°on  f'om":ty  held  with  deep  reverence  those 
sniritual  experiences  which  lie  deep  in  the  heart  of 
mTn      The  respect  which  he  claimed  for  himself  he 
Extended  to  the%oorest  native  lying  dying  under  his 
troDrcal  sky.  and  it  was  his  custom  at  times  to  ask 
he   et  rement  from  his  congregation  of  his  European 
hebersThen  he  wished  to  pour  out  his  heart  unre- 
strahied  to  these   black   boys.      He  could  not  speak 
freely  before  others,  he  had  a  wholesome  horror  of 
beTng  praised  for  anything  he  might  say.     Few  men 
reTafd^d  with  such  jealous  care  the  solemn  responsi- 
hilitv  of  his  spiritual  office.  ..«„^„ 

We  can  well  imagine  with  what  pleasure  Patteson 
bapdzed  those  converts  who,  as  fruits  of  his  tnmistry 
we^re  prepared  from  time  to  time  to  receive  the  symbo 
of  en?ry  into  Christ's  Church  on  earth;  but  as  ill 
fuller  [oVwas  reserved  for  him  when  the  first  Me  a- 
neSn  received  ordination  as  a  Christian  mmister 
?rom  his  hands.  This  interesting  service  took  i^ace 
nTelUtle  college  chapel  at  the  end  of  the  year  1868, 
and  the  subject  of  it  was  George  Sarawia,  the  newly 

^'ffwardTwhen  Patteson  had  his  natives  round 
him  he  spoke  thankfully  of  the  present,  and  urged 
tS    by    God's    grace    to    fulfil   the    hopes    of  the 

^"-This   IS  the  beginning,"  said  he,  -only  the  be- 


142 


msiiop  PAn£soi\/. 


ginning,  the  first  fruit.  Many  blossoms  there  are 
already.  I  know  that  God's  Spirit  is  working  in  the 
111  arts  of  some  of  you.  Follow  that  holy  guidance, 
i'ray  always  that  you  may  be  kept  in  the  right  way, 
and  tliat  you  may  be  enabled  to  point  it  out  to  others, 
and  to  guide  them  to  it." 

A  letter  which  came  with  his  correspondence  from 
England,  was  like  a  cloud  floating  in  the  azure  of  his 
happy  work.  It  was  from  his  old  friend  Bishop 
Selwyn,  to  tell  him  of  his  translation  to  the  see  of 
LichHeld.  The  intimate  relations  existing  between 
these  two  men  were  close  and  tender,  more  as  of  an 
elder  and  younger  brother.  Patteson  feels  keenly  the 
severance  which  is  to  be  made,  and  with  his  customary 
self-depreciation  writes,  "  Indeed  I  do  thank  God  that 
I  have  been  taught  to  know  and  dearly  love  you ; 
and  much  I  reproach  myself  (not  now  for  the  first 
time)  that  I  have  been  wilful  and  pained  you  some- 
times by  choosing  for  myself  when  I  ought  to  have 
followed  your  advice."  He  is  convinced,  however, 
that  Bishop  Selwyn  has  done  right  "n  accepting  the 
position. 

The  day  of  Bishop  Selwyn's  departure  from  New 
Zealand  was  one  of  public  solemnity  and  regret.  The 
shops  in  Auckland  were  closed,  the  streets  were  crowded 
with  a  concourse  of  colonists  and  natives,  anxious  to 
see  the  last  of  their  Primate. 

It  was  the  trying  task  which  fell  to  Patteson  to 
take  a  prominent  part  in  the  farewell  .ceremony  at 
St.  Mary's  Church ;  and  now,  standing  on  the 
wharf,  these  two  men,  so  alike  in  noble  qualities 
displayed  in  the  same  glorious  field  of  service,  said 
farewell.  Four  simple  sentences  from  one  of  Patte- 
son's  letters  tell  with  touching  force  what  it  was  to 
him. 

"  Then  choking  words,  and  stifled  efforts  to  say  '  God 
bless  you  1 '  and  so  we  parted."  "  It  is  the  end  of  a 
long  chapter.  I  feel  as  if  '  my  master  was  taken  from 
my  head.'" 


FIRST  FRUITS  IN  EARTH  AND  IIEA  VEN.   143 

"Ah,  well!  they  are  gone;  and  we  will  try  to  do 

what  we  can." 

•*  I  feel  rathiT  no-how,  and  can't  yet  settle  down  to 

anything."  ..        r  .    ^  c 

As  a  consequence,  he  was  really  unfitted  for  active 

work  for  a  time. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE    MARTYRDOM     AND    AFTER. 


"  Oft  had  the  angel  unto  otiicrs  come, 
And  Lome  while  yet  he  prayed  the  spirit  home, 
At  last  the  white-robed  messenger  one  day 
Knocked  at  his  heart  and  beckoned  him  away. 

' '  The  Master  calls  for  thee : '  he  quickly  rose, 
The  work  is  ended,  comes  the  sure  repose, 
The  Cross  so  bravely  borne  at  last  laid  down, 
Above  him  glitters  the  unfading  crown." 

THE  year  1870,  amid  its  record  of  unflagging 
toil,  is  marked  by  the  serious  illness  of  Bishop 
Patteson,  which  compelled  him  to  take  an  in- 
terval of  complete  rest.  He  had  borne  up  as 
long  as  possible  without  complaint,  but  at  last  a  painful 
malady  which  had  before  afflicted  him  quite  laid  him 
aside  in  utter  weakness.  Universal  and  heart-felt  was 
the  solicitude  of  his  fellow-workers  and  Melanesians  at 
Norfolk  Island,  and  night  and  day  they  tended  him 
with  loving  care.  It  became  necessary,  however,  for 
him  to  consult  skilled  advice,  and  therefore  he  r^^turned 
on  the  Southern  Cross  to  Auckland,  and  became  the 


r.   .1  MARTYRDOM  AND  AFTER. 


145 


honoured  guest  of  his  friend  Lady  Martin.  A  great 
change  was  noticed  in  his  appearance  since  his  last 
visit,  a  loss  of  vital  power  and  a  different  look  on  his 
face,  his  hair  was  also  turning  grey.  He  had  of  course 
to  be  carried  in  the  arms  of  his  friends  to  his  home  of 
rest,  and  for  a  long  time  afterwards  could  only  sit  in 
an  easy  chair,  in  a  kind  of  dreamy  doze,  waited  on 
by  his  faithful  Melanesian  attendant.  For  a  time  his 
extreme  weakness  made  him  perfectly  willing  to  adhere 
to  his  physician's  instructions  as  to  absolute  rest  and 
quiet,  but  as  soon  as  ever  the  pulse  of  life  began  to 
quicken,  the  old  spirit  of  activity  and  undauntable 
energy  reasserted  itself.  At  other  times  his  mind, 
dwelling  constantly  on  his  beloved  work  among  the 
islands,  saw  in  the  future  many  things  to  imperil  the 
permanent  success  of  the  Mission.  He  longed  to  be 
back  again,  and  to  introduce,  amid  these  growing 
dangers,  the  strength  of  his  presence  and  advice  to 
the  faithful  few. 

In  due  course  this  prayer  was  granted,  and  he  sealed 
his  devotion  to  Melanesia  with  his  blood. 

What  this  evil  influence  was  which,  creeping  among 
the  coral  reefs,  wrecked  the  prospects  of  the  Mission, 
and  caused  the  murder  of  its  Bishop,  must  now  be 
again  and  more  fully  referred  to.  In  a  word  it  may 
be  said  that  slavery  slew  Patteson. 

It  is  a  story  of  the  white  man's  cruelty,  of  his 
greed  of  gain,  of  native  confidence  wronged  and  finally 
destroyed,  of  the  innocent  suffeiing  for  the  guilty. 

The  sugar  and  crnon  plantations  of  Fiji  and  Queens- 
land were  much  in  i^eed  of  native  labour,  and  to  secure 
this  trading-vessels  plied  among  the  islands  to  enlist 
the  natives,  and  persuade  them  to  come  back  with 
them.  In  many  respects  this  plan  commended  itself 
to  the  missionaries,  and  thus  they,  with  mistaken  and 
fatal  collusion,  became  unconscious  instruments  in  the 
wrong  which  followed.  The  demand  for  workers, 
however,  soon  exceeded  the  voluntary  supply,  and 
these  sandal-wood  traders,  in  whose  hands  the  inter- 

J9 


146 


BISHOP  PATTESON, 


course  with  the  natives  rested,  soon  resorted  to  un- 
scrupulous means  for  getting  a  human  <^^;g°-     TYse 
tried  to  coax  them  on  board  their  ships  under  promise 
of  presents,  and  having  succeeded,  would  fasten  the 
unsuspect  ng  natives  under  hatches  till  they  had  got 
them  Sv  away.     Where  opposition  was  met  with, 
Se  crews  freeTy  shot  down  the  poor  islanders,  canoes 
were  deliberately  sunk,  and  these  outrages  were  com- 
mitted  with  impunity.    The  consequence  was  that  a 
deidly  Tnd  implacable  hatred  was  established  between 
the  whi?e  and  Ihe  black  man,  and  reprisals  on  the  part 
of  the  outraged  natives  were  of  common  occurrence. 

One  of  the  worst  features  of  this  vile  kidnapping 

was   the   use  freely  made  of  Patteson's  name  as   a 

decoy  by  hese  traders;  they  told  the  blacks  that  the 

Sp  was  on  board,  and  wanted  to  see  them;  that 

hi  hn  J  broken  his  leg,  and  had  sent  the  vessel  to  fetch 

?hem     and    n  somi  Les  fixed  his  effigy  to  the  prow 

ofTh^  vessel,  dressed  in  a  black  coat,  with  a  book  in 

his  hands     So  degraded  were  these  men  that  it  is 

s  ated  they  assisted^  one  tribe  in  war  against  another 

ii  order  to^apture  slaves.     Thus  their  ships  had  go 

to  be  known  L  "  kill-kill "  vessels  or  "  snatch-snatch 

'''u  will  be  readily  seen  from  this  state  of  things  that 
a  dagger  of  the  most  fearful  character  threatened  with 
fniurv  if  not  extinction,  the  Melanesian  Misswn.  The 
is  ands  were  being  rapidly  depopulated,  and  the  remnant 
that  rimain.d  wire  only  exasperated  with  murderous 

revenee  against  the  white  man.         ,      _.  ,        , ,    .^ 

Thf  news  of  all  this  brought  the  Bishop  back  to 
his  sphere  of  work  as  soon  as  ever  he  was  convales- 
c^nt  He  addressed  a  strong  memorandum  to  the 
New  Zealand  Synod,  hoping  thereby  to  get  the  Engh^^ 
Government  to  take  steps  for  the  suppression  of  this 
wfcked  trade  in  slaves.  As  he  passed  from  island  to 
Ts  and  he  warned  the  natives  against  these  sandal-wood 
traders  'v^th  their  specious  promises,  and  was  gneved 
0  find  in  so  many  cases  that  the  young  men  had  been 


THE  MARTYRDOM  AND  AFTER. 


'47 


carried  off  already.  He  found  that  the  planters  in  Fiji 
and  Queensland  did  not  wish  these  natives  to  be  kid- 
napped, and  would  have  preferred  to  receive  such,  for 
whom  they  had  paid  as  much  as  twelve  pounds  in 
some  cases  to  the  traders,  upon  their  plantations 
without  this  evident  distress  and  ill-humour.  Every- 
where he  was  struck  with  the  shyness  of  the  people, 
and  how  few  now  came  to  meet  him,  where  in  previous 
voyages  the  beach  would  have  been  crowded  with 
hundreds  of  natives.  In  some  instances  his  old  friends 
cautioned  Patteson  against  visiting  certain  places, 
where  the  people  were  in  a  very  exasperated  state, 
and  had  already,  out  of  revenge,  intercepted  and  de- 
stroyed the  boats  and  their  crews  sent  off  from  the 
trading-vessels. 

Several  times  he  met  with  these  ships,  and  boarded 
them  to  make  inquiries.  He  found  the  captains 
actually  provided  with  a  Government  permit,  counter- 
signed by  the  missionaries  on  the  island,  and  every- 
thing superficially  quite  in  order,  but  below  under 
hatches  were  the  poor  fellows.  Once  as  he  parted 
from  one  of  these  ships,  one  of  the  black  cargo 
piteously  cried  to  him,  "  Bishopy  !  Bishopy  !  "  but  was 
quickly  silenced. 

After  a  time  he  returned  to  Norfolk  Island,  and  for 
a  space  his  letters  are  full  of  his  work  there,  translat- 
ing into  the  various  languages,  a  Babel  multitude ; 
preparing  his  catechumens,  arranging  plans  for  ex- 
tended operations;  and  amidst  it  all  finding  time  to 
make  elaborate  and  most  valuable  comments  on  the 
condition  of  the  Church  at  home.  His  heart  is  full 
to  overflowing  with  thankfulness  at  what  he  calls  the 
"  almost  visible  victory  over  powers  of  darkness."  In 
sight  of  this  evidence  of  the  blessing  of  God  upon 
his  long  and  patient  labours,  he  remembers  again  his 
old  text,  "  Thine  heart  shall  fear  and  be  enlarged." 

These  poor  natives,  he  tells  us,  now  come  to  him 
and  talk  with  him  in  words  like  these, — 

"  I  </o  see  the  evil  of  the  old  life,  I  do  believe  in 


,^8  BISHOP  PATTESON. 

u    .o      T  fppl  in  mv  heart  new  desires, 

^hat  yo;;^f -^1^",%,    ^^The  or/uVe  has  been  hateful 
new  wishes,  "^w  hopes      i  n  ^^  ^^^^^^ 

JteiXT.  -  aMd/"  win  after  .aWng  these 
n-tra' do 'yt 'doubt-God's  power  and  love  or 

''"lirrn-rdoubrHU  power  and  love;  but  I  an, 

afraiQ." 

"  Afraid  of  wnat  ? 

;;gL'^;!^."fie%Ue  .«=  ...p  to  .hose  »ho  need 

it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  know  that. 

:;  ?S  S'how  .o  pray  pro^r,y  but  .and  .y 
wife  sav-'God,  make  our  hearts  hght.  lake  away 
Thf  darkness.  We  bdieve  that  you  love  -  because 
vou  sent  Tesus  to  become  a  man  and  die  for  us ,  but 
TcS  understand  it  all.      Make  us  fit  to  be  bap- 

'''<Mf"you  really  long  to  lead  a  new^^ife  and  pray  to 
God  to^trengthen  you,  come  in  faith,  without  doubt- 

'"Thus  at  Norfolk  Island  we  have  this  last  glimpse 
of  tSe  good  Bishop  in  the  midst  of  his  people.     His 
letters  show  a  deepening  seriousness,  and  he   talks 
more  freeW  than   ever  about  his  inner  experiences 
There  is  a  tremulous  tenderness,  a  chastening  of  spirit 
7n  eve  y  Vne      I"  some  cases  we  can  discern  a  dim 
foreSg  of  the  end  ;  it  is  certainly  sigmficant  that 
o°n  seS  out  he  speaks  of  the  fntaCniz  group  w,U^ 
anxious  yearning.     He  means  to  g°^^°.^"^J,P^"'i,„^^ 
cnv<;  and  adds.  "  You  can  enter  into  my  thougnts  now 
fprav  God  U  at  if  it  be  His  will,  and  if  it  be  the 

Kgl:  sir  liUle  w  Jk  among  these  very  wild  but 

^^^irS  -- '^-^'  near,  the  last  entry  is 


THE  MARTYRDOM  AND  AFTER. 


149 


made  in  the  journal,  the  last  words  being  said  to  his 
faithful  friends. 

When  the  sun  rose  on  the  morning  of  the  20th  of 
September,  1 871,  the  Southern  Cross  vras  by  the  Bishop's 
orders  headed  for  Nukapu.  He  gathered  his  young 
Melanesians  around  him  on  deck,  and  talked  to  them 
with  mysterious  and  unconscious  appropriateness  of  the 
death  of  Stephen.  In  tones  never  to  be  forgotten  ne 
read  in  their  hearing  the  words  of  the  Gospel,  "  There- 
fore, whatsoever  ye  have  spoken  in  darkness  shall  be 
heard  in  the  light,  and  that  which  ye  have  spoken  in 
the  ear  in  closets  shall  be  proclaimed  on  the  housetops. 
And  I  say  unto  you,  my  friends,  Be  not  ajraid  of  them 
that  kill  the  body,  and  after  that  have  no  more  that  they 
can  do." 

Then  in  due  time  the  ship  stood  off  the  coral  reef, 
and  several  canoes  filled  with  natives  were  seen  cruis- 
ing about.      Taking   with   them   a  few  presents,  the 
Bishop  and   his   party  got  into  a  boat   and    pulled 
towards  the  island.      Although  the  people  recognised 
him  there  was  a  strangeness  in  their  manner.     To 
disarm  any  suspicions  they  might  have,  he  went  into 
one  of  their  canoes,  and  then  Mr.  Atkins,  his  com- 
panion, thought  he  caught  the  word  "Tabu,"  which 
refers  among  this  race  to  the  offering  of  presents  to 
an  intended  victim.     Some  yams  and  fruit  were  at  the 
same  time  placed  before  the  Bishop.     The  canoes  were 
now  dragged  over  the  reef  into  the  deep  lagoon,  and 
the  friends  of  the   Bishop   saw  him   land  and   then 
disappear  in  the  crowd.     With  intense  anxiety  they 
waited  his  return.      Presently  a  man  in  one  of  the 
canoes   began   shouting,   "  Have    you    anything    like 
this?"  and  a  shower  of  arrows  followed,  with  cries 
of  vengeance.     "  This  for  New  Zealand  man  !  this  for 
Bauro  man  I  this  for  Mota  man  ! " 

The  shafts  flew  with  fatal  accuracy,  and  the  boat 
with  difficulty  was  pulled  back  to  the  ship  filled  with 
wounded  men.  Some  of  the  arrow-heads,  of  poisoned 
bone,  were  extracted,  and  Mr.  Atkins,  who  had  been 


«5o 


BISHOP  PATTESON 


It  ' 


dangerously  struck  in  the  shoulder,  insisted  at  once  on 
returning  to  look  after  the  Bishop.  The  native  boys 
and  two  sailors  quickly  volunteered  to  accompany  him ; 
and  at  last  as  the  tide  rose  their  boat  was  able  to  cross 
the  reef.  Two  canoes  were  being  rowed  to  meet  them ; 
one  shortly  went  back  leaving  the  other  to  float  for- 
ward. In  it  was  apparently  a  heap,  and  at  first  one 
of  the  sailors,  thinking  it  might  be  a  man  in  ambush, 
prepared  his  pistol. 

But  it  carried  not  the  living  but  the  dead ! 
"  Those  are  the  Bishop's  shoes."  Then  this  funeral 
barge  reached  them,  and  one  thrilling  whisper  passed 
ihcir  lips—"  The  body  !  "  With  breaking  hearts  and 
trembling  hands  they  lifted  out  the  body  of  Patleson. 
It  was  wrapped  carefully  in  a  native  mat,  and  upon 
the  breast  was  placed  a  spray  of  native  palm  with 
five  mysterious  knots  tied  in  leaves ;  and  when  they 
unwrapped  him,  beneath  the  spray  of  palm  were  five 
wounds  there. 

The  explanation  of  this  was  that  the  Bishop  had 
been  killed  in  expiation  of  the  outrage  on  five  natives 
who  had  died  at  the  hands  of  the  white  men. 

A  yell  of  triumph  rang  along  the  distant  beach  as 
the  precious  burden  was  borne  away;  and  it  is  sup- 
posed that  the  reverent  treatment  of  the  body,  and  its 
restoration  to  the  Bishop's  friends,  was  due  to  some 
of  his  native  friends  ashore. 

His  face  was  calm,  and  full  of  peace  ;  he  had  not 
suffered  from  the  spear  wounds  in  his  breast,  for  a 
murderous  blow  at  the  back  of  the  head  must  have 
at  once  deprived  him  of  life. 

The  next  day,  with  breaking  hearts,  the  little  com- 
pany commiUed  the  body  to  the  deep,  to  lie  until  that 
great  Day  when  the  sea  as  well  as  the  land  shall 
restore  her  dead  at  the  Almighty  summons. 

The  mournful  voyage  back  to  Norfolk  Island  was 
attended  by  the  death  in  great  agony  of  the  two 
wounded  Melanesians,  and  of  Mr.  Atkins,  the  true- 
hearted  companion  of  the  Bishop  in  so  many  penis. 


THE  MARTYRDOM  AND  AFTER. 


«5» 


When  at  last,  on  the   i8th  October,  the  Southern 
Cross  came  in  sight,  her  ensign  flying  half-mast  high, 
the  effect  upon  those  who  waited  its  arrival  was  deeply 
distressing.     Mr.  Hobbs  tells  how  when  he  saw  the 
ship  with  such  sad  evidence  of  loss  and  disaster,  "  my 
heart  grew  faint ; "  and  adds,  "  but  to  the  yacht  as 
soon  as   she   came   near  enough,  one   of  our  boats, 
manned  by  an  eager  crew,  went  off,  and  long  before 
she  returned  all  hands,  men,  women  and  children,  were 
anxiously  assembled  on  the  pier.     Scarce  a  word  was 
spoken.     Well,  the  boat  is  returning,  plenty  of  curly 
heads  appear  above  the  gunwales  and  by  the  sides  of 
the  rowers,  several  sitters  are  in  the  stern  sheets— but 
who  are  they  ?     Once  or  twice  both  the  Bishop  and 
Mr.   Atkins  were  perceived  there,  then  again  doubts 
arose.     Then   we   thought  we  could   discern  a  body 
covered  with  a  blue  ensign  or  other   dark  pall,  and 
many  other  conjectures  were  formed,  for  in  our  excite- 
ment we  had  forgotten  to  bring  a  telescope.     However, 
the  boat  approaches  rapidly,  she  rounds  the  head  of 
the  pier.     The  sitters  aft  we  recognise— Mr.  Brooke 
and  Captain  Jacobs.     The  boats  are  now  withm  hail. 
One  of  our  people  on  shore  calls  out '  All  right  ?      No, 
sad  news,'  is  the  almost  inaudible  answer. 

"Then  all  are  silent,  and  the  fact  reaches  us  that 
Bishop  Patteson  and  the  Rev.  Josepli  Atkins  (the  name 
of  the  MeL  sian  martyr  who  received  his  death-wound 
at  the  samt  time  was  Stephen  Taroaniara)  had  been 
killed  by  the  natives  of  Nukapu  Island,  a  place  httle 
better  than  a  rock,  adjacent  to  Santa  Cruz,  where 
Fisher,  Young,  and  Edwin  Webb  received  their  death- 
wounds  seven  years  before.  It  is  a  sad  blow  to  the 
Mission,  humanly  speaking,  but  '  The  Lord  is  a  God 
of  judgment ;  blessed  are  all  they  that  wait  for  Him. 

The  testimony  to  the  place  which  Patteson  held  m 
the  hearts  of  these  people  may  be  gathered  from  the 
affecting  earnestness  of  words  like  the  following, — 

•'  Dear,  kind,  good,  loving  Bishop  1  how  full  of  sad- 
ness our  hearts  are  at  his  loss  I     We  know  that  they 


152 


BISHOP  PATTESON, 


are  at  rest,  and  their  works  do  follow  them.  May  the 
remembrance  of  the  sweet,  Christlike  character  of  our 
dear  Bishop  help  us  to  strive  to  follow  him  as  he 
followed  his  Lord.  Often  I  say  to  myself,  Why  was 
he  so  lovable  ?  and  why  was  there  a  greater  fascination 
and  influence  for  good  about  him  than  any  one  I  ever 
met  ?  and  the  truest  answer  seems  to  be  that  he  par- 
took so  greatly  of  the  spirit  of  Christ.  His  sole  object 
seemed  to  be  to  do  all  for  the  glory  of  God,  to  feed  the 
sheep  in  the  wilderness  of  his  sojourn." 

The  subsequent  history  is  soon  told,  and  will  be 
read  with  feelings  strangely  mingled.  The  news  of 
his  death  caused  dismay,  and  even  indignation,  among 
those  who  had  not  for  these  poor  natives  the  con- 
siderate love  and  pity  which  warmed  Patteson's  heart. 
An  English  war-vessel,  the  Rosario,  proceeded  to  Santa 
Cruz  to  make  inquiries,  but  before  leaving  Norfolk 
Island  the  whole  community  protested  against  any 
reprisal  being  made  for  the  Bishop's  death,  and  to  this 
the  Captain  gave  his  promise  as  far  as  he  was  able. 
It  appears,  however,  that  when  a  boat  was  lowered  at 
Nukapu  with  a  flag  of  truce,  the  crowd  of  natives  only 
understood  the  visit  as  one  of  vengeance  for  the 
murdered  Englishman,  and  sent  a  volley  of  arrows  at 
the  boat,  killing  at  once  a  sergeant  of  marines. 

The  result  was  that  the  men  of  the  Rosario  opened 
fire  on  them,  and  many  natives  fell.  This  is  just  what 
Patteson  would  have  not  liked  to  take  place ;  he  was  a 
man  of  peace  and  forgiveness,  and,  like  his  great 
Example,  doubtless  prayed  in  dying  for  mercy  on  his 
murderers. 

As  if  forecasting  the  likelihood  of  this  lamentable 
event,  he  said  in  his  earnest  memorandum  read  to  the 
Provincial  Synod  of  Sydney,  "  I  desire  to  protest  by 
anticipation  against  any  punishment  being  inflicted 
against  the  natives  of  these  islands  who  may  cut  oft 
vessels  and  kill  boats'  crews,  until  it  is  clearly  shown 
that  these  are  not  done  in  the  way  of  retribution  for 
outrages  first  committed  by  white  men,"     If  this  was 


THE  MARTYRDOM  AND  AFTER. 


»SS 


his  view  as  regards  trading-vessels,  placing  himself 
between  the  vengeance  of  civilised  might  and  the  en- 
raged natives,  how  much  more  would  he  have  rebuked 
and  repudiated  the  vengeance  of  British  gun-fire  for 
the  death  of  one  whose  life  was  a  constant  sacrifice  for 
the  Master's  sake.  That  coral  strand  strewn  with  dead 
natives,  whose  ruined  villages  were  smoking  behind 
them,  was  a  sight  which  a  Christian  must  recall  with 
mingled  grief  and  shame. 

A  visit  of  a  very  different  character  took  place  here 
some  years  afterward,  when  Bishop  John  Selwyn  had 
succeeded  Patteson  in  his  great  work.     Accompanied 
by  Mr.  Lister  Kaye,  who  belonged  to  the  Santa  Cruz 
Mission,  he  landed  at  Nukapu.     They  were  received 
by  Moto,  the  old  chief,  and  one  of  the  survivors  of  the 
men  who  were  kidnapped,  and  for  whom  the  life  of 
the  Bishop  was  taken   in  expiation.    They  took   the 
visitors  to  a  hut  where  Patteson  sat  and  spoke  to  the 
people,  and  looking  across  to  the  sea  must  have  seen 
the  arrows  fly  across  at  the  boat.     It  was  then  and 
there  that  he  received  his  death-blow  on  the  head  from 
a  club,  and  the  five  wounds  were  afterwards  inflicted 
as  a  mark  of  vengeance  for  the  five  Nukapu  men  taken 
away  before.     When,  however,  the  other  people  knew 
of  his  murder,  they  were  greatly  incensed,  and  drove 
the  guilty  actors  of  the  tragedy  irom  the  island,  the 
man   who   struck  the  first  blow  being  compelled  to 
wander  from  place  to  place,  until  finally  he  gave  himself 
up  to  the  old  chief,  who  forthwith  shot  him  dead. 

With  feelings  which  can  be  well  imagined  Bishop 
John  Selwyn  and  his  friends  listened  to  this  recital, 
and  then  proceeded  to  place  a  cross  on  the  very  spot 
where  Patteson  was  supposed  to  have  been  killed. 
They  desired  to  put  it  in  front  of  the  hut,  but  acceded 
to  the  wishes  of  the  natives  that  it  might  stand  in  sight 
of  the  sea,  and  there  on  a  little  eminence,  beneath 
which  the  blue  waves  dashed  on  the  coral  shore,  they 
reverently  uplifted  this  touching  memorial  of  the  sainted 
dead.     It  is  a  cross  twelve  feet   high,  of  galvanised 


,,4  BISHOP  PATTESON. 

iron,  with  a  burnished  copper  disc  thereon.    The  simple 
inscription  runs  as  follows, — 

In  (iWemors  o£ 

John  CoUriij*  J^sttteon,  p.p., 

^issionars  giahop, 

jrjihoac  life  teas  here  talun  bg  men  for  tohom  ht  tooulb 

glablg  habc  jibtn  it. 


St     I 


PATTESON   MEMORIAL  CROSS  ON  THE  WAYSIDE  NEAR  EXETER. 

Then,  the  monument  having  been  raised,  the  Bishop 
and  his  party  solemnly  knelt  on  the  very  ground  where 
the  martyr  fell,  and  repeated  that  beautiful  collect  for 
All  Saints'  Day,  "O  Almighty  God,  who  hast  knit 
together  Thine  elect  in  one  communion  and  fellowship, 
in  the  mystical  body  of  Thy  Son  Christ  our  Lord  ; 
Grant  us  grace  so  to  follow  Thy  blessed  Saints  in  all 
virtuous  and  godly  living,  that  we  may  come  to  those 
unspeakable  joys,  which  Thou  hast  prepared  for  tlicm 


THE  MARTYRDOM  AND  AFTER. 


155 


that  unfeignedly  love  Thee ;  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.    Amen." 

So  in  the  sight  of  the  dusky  islanders,  they  reverently 
consecrated  the  memory  of  their  brother  in  the  Lord. 

In  his  native  land,  it  need  hardly  be  said,  other 
memorials  by  loving  hands  were  erected.  One  is 
put  up  at  Sperne  Cross,  near  Exeter,  the  name  given 
to  a  spot  where  the  cross  roads  meet  near  Alfington, 
and  was  erected  by  his  relative  Lord  Coleridge. 

On  each  of  the  four  faces  of  the  cross  is  an  inscrip- 
tion, and  on  the  side  pointing  to  Feniton  in  addition 
are  the  words,  "A  kinsman  desires  thus  to  keep  alive 
for  after-time  the  name  and  example  of  a  wise,  a  holy 
and  a  humble  man." 

The  principal  inscription  on  the  base  of  the  me- 
morial is  as  follows, — 

in  ^ttnors  at 
JOHN  COLERIDGE  PATTESON,   D.D., 

MISSIONARY    BISHOP, 

Born  in  London,  April  ist,  1S27. 

Killed  at  Nukapii,  near  the  island  of  Santa  Cruz, 

20th  September,  1871, 

Together  with  two  fellow-workers  of  our  Lord,  the  Reverend 
Joseph  Atkins  and  Stephen  Taroaniara  (in  vengeance  for  wrongs 
suffered  at  the  hands  of  Europeans), 

By  savage  men  whom  he  loved. 
And  for  whose  sake  he  gave  up 

Home  and  Country, 
And  fiiends  dearer  than  his  life. 


Lord  Jesus, 
Grant  that  we  may  live  to  Thee  like  him, 
And  stand  in  our  lot  with  him 

Before  Thy  throne, 
At  l'.:c  end  of  the  days.     Amen. 


«56 


BISHOP  PATTESON. 


But    undoubtedly    the    noblest    memorial    of    this 
character  is  the  magnificent  pulpit  erected  in  Exeter 
Cathedral  at  a  cost  of  £^QO.      It  is   in   the  richly 
decorated  style,  and  is  the  product  of  the  genius  of 
Sir  Gilbert  Scott.      The  yellow   Mansfield   stone  of 
which  it  is  composed  has  been  sculptured  in  exquisite 
beauty  of  tracing  and  outline.     The  front  panel  shows 
the  friendly  natives  bringing  the  body  of  the  Bishop  to 
the  boat,  folded  in  the  native  mat.      On  either  side 
are  the  bas-reliefs  representing  the  martyrdom  of  St. 
Alban,  and  the  departure  of  St.  Boniface  from  Britain 
to  Germany  ;  besides  the  figures  within  the  niches  of 
St.  Paul,  St.  John  the  Baptist,  and  St.  Stephen. 
Upon  the  side  of  the  pulpit  are  these  words,— 
"This  pulpit  is   placed   here  in  memory  of  John 
Coleridge     Patteson,     D.D.,     Missionary     Bishop, 
ordained  in  this  Cathedral :  Deacon,  25th  September, 
1853;    Priest,    24th    September,    1854;    Consecrated 
Bishop  en  the  Feast  of  St.  Matthias,   i86f.      Killed 
"Oth  September,  1871,  together  with  two  fellow-workers 
for  the  Lord,  at  Nukapu,  in  the  South  Pacific  Ocean, 
whilst  doing  the  duty  for  which  he  gave  up  himsell 
and  all  that  he  had." 

His  character  and  life  are  thus  eloquently  summed 

up  by  Mr.  Gladstone, —  ■  •       c 

"  In  him  were  singularly  combined  the  spirit  ot 
chivalry,  the  glorious  ornament  of  a  bygone  time ; 
the  spirit  of  charity,  rare  in  every  age ;  ?nd  the  spirit 
of  reverence,  which  the  favourite  children  of  this  genera- 
tion appear  to  have  combined  to  ban. 

"It  is  hardly  possible  to  read  the  significant  but 
modest  record  of  his  sacrifices,  his  labours,  his  penis, 
and  his  cares,  without  being  vividly  reminded  ot  bt. 
Paul  the  prince  and  model  of  all  missionary  labourers, 
without  feeling  that  the  Apostolic  pattern  is  not  even 
now  without  its  imitators,  and  that  the  copy  in  this 
case  well   and   truly    and    not    remotely  recalls    the 

°"Thus  from   the  very  midst  of  his  field  of  labour 


PATTESON   MUMOKIAL  PULPIT,    EXKTER  CATHEORAL. 


1S8 


BISHOP  PA  TTESOy. 


passed  this  hero  of  the  Cross  to  his  wril-carned  rest. 
He  Rave  the  best  of  his  life,  his  manly  strength,  his 
intellectual  abilities,  his  loving  atTcction,  to  the  service 
of  the  black  men  of  Melanesia  :  at  their  hands  he  laid 
that  life  down.  Little  did  they  dream  when  th:y  dealt 
the  deadly  blow,  and  when  the  five  expiating  wounds 
were  inflicted,  how  great  a  soul,  how  true  a  friend, 
their  murderous  club  set  free.  The  martyrdom  on  the 
reef  of  Nukapu  was  a  personal  bereavement  to  every 
islander  in  Melanesia,  an  irreparable  loss  which  is  telt 
even  unto  this  day. 

Realising  the  spirit  and  heart  of  the  man,  one  can- 
not help  the  conviction  that  he  died  just  where  he 
would  have  chosen.  His  work  just  finished,  he  lay 
down  in  the  midst  of  it.  Much  more  he  would  have 
been  willing  to  do,  but  suddenly  the  Voice,  which  had 
often  whispered  the  comforting  assurance  of  Uivine 
love,  spoke  the  authoritative  word  which  flung  open 
the  door  that  we  call  death,  and  he  entered  into  the 

joy  of  his  Lord.  .      r      .  j      i 

His  blood  was  spilt  in  sight  of  the  fronded  palms, 
whiJi  like  stately  Gothic  columns  hung  their  tresses 
against  the  blue  arch  of  a  cloudless  sky ;  he  fell  m 
glorious  martyrdom, 

"  Upon  the  world's  great  altar  stairs 
Which  slope  through  darkness  up  to  God. 

His  burial,  too,  was  like  his  death.  For  him  none 
of  the  mournful  pomp  of  a  public  funeral  was  to  be. 
A  few  sad-hearted  and  loving  fellow-workers,  some 
stricken  too  with  the  arrow's  poison  and  ready  to  die, 
committed  him  to  the  waters  of  that  sea,  in  which 
many  a  time  he  bravely  swam  with  his  message  ol 
peace  and  love,  and  which  now  enfolds  him  to  keep 
among  its  secrets  till  the  sea  gives  up  its  dead. 

But  being  dead  he  yet  speaketh ;  and  surely  to  him 
the  language  of  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  may  be  fitly 
applied, — 


THE  MARTYRDOM  AND  AFTER.  I59 

"I  have  fought  ^od  fight,  1  have  finished  my 
course,  I  have  kcp  aith  :  lienceforth  there  is  laid 

up  for  me  a  crown  ot  righteousness,  which  the  Lor<l, 
the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day ;  and 
not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them  also  that  love  Hjs 

appearing."  ,      .  ,     •     .u 

He  has  passed  from  our  sight,  but  stands  in  the 
presence  of  the  Master  he  loved  so  well,  and  forms  one 
of  that  glorious  company  of  the  redeemed  of  whom 
St.  John  in  Patmos  speaks, — 

"And  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saymg  unto  mc, 
Write,  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord 
from  henceforth  :  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may 
rest  from  their  labours;    and  their  works  do  follow 

them."  ,       .,    J     .        ,    . 

A  sweet    singer    has    thus    described    the   closing 

scene,— 

••  On  Southern  seas  afloat, 

There  drifts  a  lonely  boat ; 
Far  from  the  waves  that  guard  liis  English  home, 

Therein  a  dead  man  lies, 

Beneath  these  glorious  skies, 
A  palm  branch  telling  of  his  martyrdom. 

"  In  perfect  peace  the  while, 

Death-fixed  that  holy  smile 
That  rests  till  doom  upon  the  sleeping  face ; 

He  lies  beneath  the  sun, 

Slain  for  the  foul  wrong  done 
By  white  barbarians  of  the  self-same  race. 

"  No  slanting  sunset  road, 

Our  childhood's  way  to  God, 
Gleams  on  those  waters  like  a  path  of  light 

The  glow  of  noontide  there, 

Broods,  like  the  hush  of  prayer, 
Upon  that  boat  with  its  heaven-guarded  freight. 

"  Those  whom,  in  love,  he  sought, 
To  whom  God's  peace  he  broughS 

Saw  in  him  but  another  of  the  race 
Who,  for  their  simple  faith, 
Had  wrought  them  woe  and  death, 

Ai.     ?lew  him  for  the  fairness  of  his  face. 


i6o 


BISHOP  PAT7ES0N. 

"  Gods  curse  is  on  the  land 
That  shields  a  murderous  hand 

Beneath  the  shadow  of  the  Christian  name : 
Who  own  the  Christ  of  peace, 
Yet  make  not  wrong  to  cease. 

Shall  reap  for  all  theii  boasted  glory,  shame. 


E.  IL  Kerr. 


THE   END. 


Priat^dVSii^V^^i^^^^^^'^^^^        ^""^""^  *"''  ^''''''"''^" 


1 1       I^IIIBilll  - 


